Berkshire Hathaway CEO Greg Abel noted growing resistance to building data centers across the United States in an interview with CNBC’s Becky Quick on Wednesday morning.
“We’re seeing a lot more backlash in communities across the country,” Abel said.
Berkshire’s interest in the ongoing construction of the computing facility is primarily related to the site’s power and generation, Abel commented, noting that the conglomerate is willing to do business with supercomputing companies as long as it can keep costs down.
“We’re interested in serving these hyperscalers as long as it doesn’t affect rates for other customers,” he said.
Wall Street investors and analysts echoed Abel’s comments, pointing to growing organized political resistance to large-scale computing construction projects that could strain local power and water resources.
New York state has enacted a moratorium on data center construction, but many other states have bans and restrictions of varying strength pending. There are approximately 4,700 data centers in the United States, and that number continues to grow.
Mizuho analysts said in a note to clients on Tuesday that investors believe data centers could be a key issue in the midterm elections.
“This is clearly an evolving situation, with some investors questioning the legitimacy of claims about resource consumption and limited long-term job creation ahead of the midterm elections,” Mizuho’s Vikram Malhotra said on Tuesday.
