Opposition to new data centers remains strong among the general public, presenting a challenge as the United States seeks to expand its digital infrastructure to compete globally, particularly with China. A recent Gallup poll found that 71% of American adults are against having data centers built in their local areas, citing concerns over impacts such as increased power bills, water consumption, and potential effects on property values.
Industry professionals on the ground say that despite this widespread skepticism, certain locations could provide less contentious options for development. Sites like abandoned mine lands, shuttered power plants, and vacant industrial properties offer several advantages for data center construction, including existing electrical transmission infrastructure, established water rights, and large, contiguous parcels of land. Importantly, using these lands would avoid displacing agricultural fields, forests, or residential neighborhoods. Many of these sites are located in communities that have long sought new investment opportunities rather than resisting development.
Alabama offers a practical example of this strategy. In 2019, Google opened a data center on the retired Widows Creek coal plant site in Jackson County. The company utilized unused switchyards and transmission lines left from the plant’s operation. Google is now investing $1.5 billion to expand the facility, with plans to contract new electrical-generation capacity instead of relying on existing power sources, effectively transforming a former coal-burning site into a cloud infrastructure hub.
Nearby in Childersburg, Alabama, a dormant World War II-era industrial site that previously produced explosives and heavy water for the Manhattan Project remains restricted to commercial and industrial use due to deed restrictions. Groundwater contamination concerns persist, limiting alternative uses such as housing or agriculture. This raises a question about the site’s potential for future data center development.
Similar initiatives are underway in Virginia and West Virginia, where former strip-mined lands are being repurposed for data centers, turning traditional coal country into emerging cloud infrastructure regions. Historically reliant on extractive industries, these areas had limited economic benefits beyond resource extraction. Data center projects offer a chance to revitalize infrastructure, expand the local tax base, and provide sustained employment for a range of skilled trades including electricians, pipefitters, and ironworkers.
Federal and state programs support this transition. The Abandoned Mine Land Economic Revitalization program provides funding to return legacy mining sites to productive use, with Alabama receiving $11 million from this program in 2025. Additionally, Alabama's 2023 brownfield law provides liability protections for developers once cleanup efforts are approved and completed, making redevelopment more feasible.
Advocates argue this approach represents a shift in how discarded land is viewed—not as an obstacle but as a key resource for meeting the country’s growing digital infrastructure needs. By utilizing existing but underused industrial lands, the data center industry may reduce conflicts with local communities while supporting economic growth and infrastructure modernization.