Candidates for governor in 12 U.S. states support halting data center construction

Twelve U.S. states have elected or are leaning toward gubernatorial candidates who back moratoriums on data center construction, including sites tied to OpenAI and Oracle's ($ORCL) Stargate project and SoftBank Group's ($9984) SB Energy. The Information reported that 34 of 36 winning or leading candidates across 36 states support at least one data center restriction, with 34 favoring measures to curb household electricity bill pressure, 27 backing water and environmental protections, and 15 supporting cuts or elimination of tax incentives. The pushback threatens the power-intensive buildout underpinning AI infrastructure expansion, with local moratoriums and bans already being tracked at the municipal level. Watch whether state-level restrictions spread to the major Stargate and SB Energy campuses and how they affect utility demand forecasts and data center timelines.