Erin Brockovich Pushes Back on 700 Gigawatts of Data Center Secrecy
erin brockovich is pressing hard against data center projects that she says are reaching residents only at the proposal stage. On a recent episode of The Jim Acosta Show, she said communities are being told about them late while local officials are bound by nondisclosure agreements with tech companies.
700 gigawatts of power requests hit utilities in 2025 alone, a scale that helps explain why the fight has spread across neighborhoods. Residents are citing surging electricity bills, strained water supplies, and lower quality of life as the projects move forward.
Spencer Cox and Utah’s May 29 framework
May 29 brought a framework from Utah Governor Spencer Cox, but the political fight did not stop there. Kevin O’Leary has proposed a $100 billion data center in Utah that would cover 10,000 acres, and the project has become a high-profile example of the pushback Brockovich is channeling.
50,000 people are often tied to a large data center’s footprint through power, water, and permitting demands, but Brockovich says the problem starts earlier, when residents do not get the real description of what is being proposed. She said some facilities are presented as warehouses rather than as resource-gobbling sites, which leaves communities reacting after the proposal is already in motion.
Virginia’s 267% electricity jump
267% is how much wholesale electricity prices in Virginia have jumped over the past five years, a figure that gives the cost complaint a concrete anchor. The U.S. Energy Information Administration projects residential retail rates could rise up to 40% by 2030, and that prospect keeps the debate focused on bills rather than abstract tech growth.
5 million gallons of water per day is the upper end of what a large data center can consume, a load that puts water supply directly into the conversation for towns weighing new projects. With more than 4,300 data centers already in the United States, the resistance Brockovich is describing is not a one-off protest but a broad response to a buildout that communities say they were not shown in full until late.
“There’s a lot of secrecy and NDAs at a very proposal stage,” Brockovich said, and that is the pressure point for residents trying to decide whether to accept another large industrial user in their area. “shoved down their throats” was how she described the way the projects are landing, and for people living near the next proposal, the immediate issue is whether they are seeing the full plan before the permits and contracts harden.
