Communities Are Saying No. Here's What McCracken County Needs to Know.

Something has shifted. Across the country, communities that once rolled out the welcome mat for data center developers are now fighting back — and winning.

Planning commissions are denying permits. State legislatures are trying to claw back tax incentives. And the number of communities saying no is accelerating faster than anyone predicted.

McCracken County is not late to this fight. We are right on time.

Pocatello Said No. So Can We.

On May 18, 2026 — six days before our Planning Commission meeting — a hearing examiner in Pocatello, Idaho denied a conditional use permit for a $2.26 billion AI data center on a formerly contaminated industrial site. She overruled her own planning staff, who had recommended approval. She ruled that the developer had failed to prove the project would not be detrimental to the public interests, health, safety, or welfare of the city.

More than 300 residents had shown up to oppose it. Over 90 people testified. The community's concerns centered on water. The hearing examiner listened — and said no.

That same week, St. Charles, Missouri voted to effectively ban data centers citywide, formally defining them as a "distinct land use" and excluding them from all permitted zoning categories. Denver, Colorado imposed a one-year moratorium on new data center construction after a 600,000-square-foot facility was found capable of consuming 300 million gallons of water per year. And in Lisle, Illinois, a planning commission took up an amendment to effectively prohibit data centers after hundreds of residents showed up to a hearing that had to be canceled due to overflow.

These are not isolated events. Of the 25 data center projects canceled due to local opposition in 2025, 21 terminated in the second half of the year. Opposition groups learned from each other, shared legal strategies, and built regional coalitions that turned isolated complaints into coordinated campaigns.

The Pocatello parallel is not accidental.

The site Pocatello denied was the former Hoku Materials plant — a company that declared bankruptcy in 2013 with $1 billion in debt, leaving behind a contaminated industrial site the city is still cleaning up. Residents who lived through that failure were not prepared to live through another one.

Paducah has already lived this story. A federal industrial operation ran here for 61 years, left behind one of the most contaminated Superfund sites in the country, and handed this community a $17 billion cleanup bill projected to run through 2065. The people who stood up at our Planning Commission meeting on May 27th were making exactly the same argument Pocatello's residents made: we have already paid for one industrial promise that didn't deliver. We are not prepared to pay for another.

States Are Trying to Claw Back Their Money

The backlash is not just happening at the local level. Across the country, states that gave data center developers sweeping tax incentives are now trying to take them back — and finding out how hard that is once the deals are done.

At least nine states have already considered repealing data center tax incentives this year, while lawmakers in 28 states have introduced bills to scale back or modify existing programs.

Illinois Governor Pritzker announced a two-year suspension of state tax incentives for new data center developments, effective July 1, 2026, saying that Illinois families should not have to pay higher bills so that Big Tech can rake in more profits.

Washington State ended sales tax exemptions for data center equipment as of July 1, 2026. Arizona proposed repealing transaction privilege and use tax exemptions specific to data centers. Florida eliminated sales tax exemptions for smaller data centers entirely.

In Michigan — where the state enacted sweeping data center tax exemptions in 2024 — public sentiment soured so quickly that a legislator who voted for the original bill co-sponsored a bipartisan package of three bills to repeal it entirely. "We're taking a stand with this legislation to say that we don't believe data centers should be offered these exemptions," she said. "I believe it aligns with public sentiment."

In Maryland, a state program that exempts data centers from sales and use taxes cost $22 million in its first four years — with $11 million of that coming in 2024 alone as costs accelerated. A state legislator introduced a repeal bill after concluding: "I think it's really important that once these things get put in place, we look at the data and see what's happening on the ground."

The pattern is the same everywhere. States and communities say yes. The deals are signed. The incentives are paid out. The jobs don't materialize at the promised scale. The energy bills rise. The water gets used. And then elected officials try to reverse course — and discover they can't, because the contracts are already signed.

Kentucky Is Not Immune

In Simpson County, Kentucky, a developer sued the county after it adopted an ordinance requiring new data centers to obtain conditional use permits. The dispute is tied to a proposed $5 billion data center in Franklin, Kentucky. The case shows how projects can face delays or legal challenges even after incentives are in place — particularly when project details are limited and local officials seek clearer, enforceable conditions.

That case also shows something else: developers will fight back when communities assert their rights. That is not a reason to be intimidated. It is a reason to get the conditions right before any permit is granted — not after.

The McCracken County Difference

Every community in this list was dealing with a data center on a clean site. McCracken County is being asked to accept industrial development on and adjacent to one of the most contaminated Superfund sites in the country, with active groundwater plumes still migrating, a cleanup not projected to finish until 2065, and an Ohio River downstream that five million people depend on for drinking water.

The bar here is not lower than it was in Pocatello, or Denver, or St. Charles. It is higher.

Those communities asked basic questions about water and power and got no satisfactory answers. We have the same questions — and more. The McCracken County Planning Commission has the same authority Pocatello's hearing examiner exercised. The same authority St. Charles exercised. The same authority Denver exercised.

Permission is not automatic. It has to be earned. And it has not been earned here.

Get informed. Get involved. Visit www.ProtectMcCrackenCounty.com.

Sources: Verify It Yourself

1. KIFI Local News 8 — Pocatello CUP denial (May 18, 2026): https://localnews8.com/news/top-stories/2026/05/18/city-denies-conditional-use-permit-for-ai-data-center-at-former-hoku-plant/

2. Strisker Data Centers Weekly Briefing — St. Charles, Denver, Lisle, Pocatello (May 18–21, 2026): https://writing.strisker.com/data-centers-weekly-briefing-may-18-21-2026/

3. Introl Blog — $64 billion in blocked/delayed projects (February 25, 2026): https://introl.com/blog/data-center-community-opposition-64-billion-backlash

4. NRDC — Illinois Governor Pritzker suspends data center incentives (February 18, 2026): https://www.nrdc.org/press-releases/pritzker-announces-two-year-suspension-state-tax-incentives-new-data-center

5. Bloomberg Tax — States repealing incentives: Washington, Arizona, Florida (April 13, 2026): https://news.bloombergtax.com/tax-insights-and-commentary/california-data-center-bill-shows-skepticism-of-development-costs

6. Broadband Breakfast — 28 states modifying incentive programs (April 20, 2026): https://broadbandbreakfast.com/states-reconsider-data-center-tax-incentives/

7. Stateline / AOL — Michigan repeal effort, Maryland repeal bill (February 24, 2026): https://stateline.org/2026/02/24/data-center-tax-breaks-are-on-the-chopping-block-in-some-states/

8. Data Center Watch Substack — Simpson County, Kentucky lawsuit (January 30, 2026): https://datacenterwatch.substack.com/p/briefing-01302026

9. Supporting Documentation for the Record — McCracken County Planning Commission, May 27, 2026 (Sections 4, 12): https://www.protectmccrackencounty.com