Data center backlash!

Today, Explained

Vox

News, Politics, Daily News

4.4 • 9.5K Ratings

🗓️ 1 December 2025

⏱️ 27 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

AI data centers are driving up the cost of energy — and it's starting to get political. This episode was produced by Avishay Artsy and Miles Bryan, edited by Jolie Myers, fact-checked by Laura Bullard and Hady Mawajdeh, engineered by Patrick Boyd and David Tatasciore, and hosted by Noel King. This show was supported by a grant from Arnold Ventures. Vox had full discretion over the content of this reporting. The Google Midlothian Data Center in Texas, one of three new data centers in which Google plans to invest $40 billion. Photo by Ron Jenkins/Getty Images. Listen to Today, Explained ad-free by becoming a Vox Member: vox.com/members. New Vox members get $20 off their membership right now. Transcript at ⁠vox.com/today-explained-podcast.⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	America's hottest club is data centers.
0:04.0	These are the plants that contain the infrastructure for AI, and they are immense.
0:11.0	Look at that. That's the size of Manhattan.
0:13.0	I think they say 81% of Manhattan.
0:16.0	So these are big things.
0:18.0	Immense means construction. Construction means jobs.
0:24.9	Jobs means politicians, whether MAGA or Democrat, love to say... Data centers are coming to Virginia.
0:26.6	And many localities want to welcome them.
0:28.7	A data center is coming to town.
0:31.4	The problem is town, Noel.
0:34.3	Town does not want Manhattan in its backyard.
0:37.0	Town has noticed electricity bills creeping higher.
0:40.0	Today on Today explained, I go to Pennsylvania Town to report on the data center backlash that's scrambling American politics.
0:46.8	We live right down the street and we don't want this shit to happen in.
1:02.4	Support for today, Explain, comes from BetterHelp.
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