US Data Center Moratoriums and Permit Bans (2026)

Trackers show more than a thousand local actions. I’ll pull the statewide measures, major city and county cases, and the tariff and tax bills from primary sources.
A complete ordinance-by-ordinance census is not possible in one report. As of November 5, 2026, independent trackers count roughly 900 to 1,300 local data-center measures, and they do not use the same definitions. What follows is a sourced database of statewide actions, the November 3 ballot wave, major city and county instruments, litigation, large-load tariffs, and tax-break rollbacks. Status is as reported through November 4–5, 2026.

1. Scale: the pause is local, and the legal tool depends on state law

The binding constraint on new campuses is no longer a handful of headline bans. It is a stack of temporary freezes, prohibited-use zoning, megawatt caps, and special-use requirements that differ by what each state lets a city or county do.

GatherGov, reviewing nearly 99,000 local records through September 2026, found about 2,100 jurisdictions in all 50 states using at least one of 11 restriction tools. Moratorium language appeared in 4,269 documents and was the lead tool in 37 states. Outright bans or prohibited-use designations appeared in 2,307 documents and dominated in New Jersey, where development moratoriums have been barred since 1985, so towns skip the pause and delete the use. Pennsylvania courts have blocked moratoriums, so townships instead use “curative amendments” that halt competing applications for 180 days while zoning is rewritten. Georgia counties can freeze with a simple resolution. Texas counties have thin zoning power, so fights there run through water and grid-cost allocation rather than land-use bans. [1]

Tracker counts, which should not be added together:

• Programs.com (updated November 4, 2026): 958 local moratoriums and bans adopted since 2022; only Alaska and West Virginia with none on record; New York the only statewide moratorium it treats as in force. Heaviest local counts: Ohio 101, Michigan 96, Georgia 69, New Jersey 66. [2]
• Siting Radar (November 4–5, 2026), seven states only: 528 in force or recently adopted, 173 pending, of 767 records. Michigan 217 in force, Ohio 147, North Carolina 57, Georgia 47. [3]
• Savrn (November 2026): 1,319 city and county measures and 378 state-level measures across 49 states, including incentive changes, not only freezes. It calls that a floor, not a census. [4]
• Moratorium Nation (July 31, 2026 snapshot): 435 instruments then in force, after 59 in 2025 and 294 in the first seven months of 2026. [5]

For anyone siting a project, the practical rule is: a “no moratorium” headline in a state does not mean the township is open, and a “moratorium” headline often does not cover vested or already-complete applications.

2. Statewide pauses and executive freezes

Only New York has a formal statewide environmental-permit moratorium. Texas and Oregon have stacked administrative freezes that function as de facto pauses on new large projects. Several other governors have used narrower orders. None of the three big freezes is a permanent ban, and none automatically stops local zoning.

Jurisdiction	Date	Duration / trigger	Scope	Status
New York	July 14, 2026, Executive Order 62	Until DPS files a final Generic Environmental Impact Statement and findings. Governor’s office says up to one year; the order itself has no hard end date.	DEC must hold discretionary environmental permits for construction or expansion of data centers of 50 MW or more if the application was not already deemed complete on July 14, 2026. Local permits are not frozen. ESD directed to publish a community-investment framework. Hochul also said she will seek repeal of sales-tax exemptions for large data centers.	Enacted and in force. Separate legislative bill (S10642/A11560), a one-year pause at a lower threshold (reported as more than 20 MW), passed both houses in June 2026 and was still unsigned as of early November. [6] [7] [8] [9]
Texas	Aug. 3, 2026 grid-audit directive; Sept. 14 water directive; Sept. 21 TCEQ halt	Until ERCOT finishes its data-center interconnection audit. ERCOT has targeted a report around Dec. 10, 2026; one law-firm note said mid-December.	PUCT/ERCOT pause on advancing additional data-center interconnections (Batch Zero held). Sept. 21 letter orders TCEQ to issue no permits sought by data centers, including behind-the-meter projects, and says no state agency should move regulatory approvals until audit information is in. Abbott also said he will seek to eliminate data-center incentives next session.	Enacted as gubernatorial directives, not a statute. Implementation was messy: Public Citizen and FracTracker identified permits issued after Sept. 21; TCEQ later said it suspended at least 16–17 of them and shut its automatic filing portal (STEERS) so staff can screen data-center applications. Governor-elect Gina Hinojosa campaigned on a broader moratorium; that is a campaign pledge, not law. [10] [11] [12] [13] [14]
Oregon	Sept. 8, 2026 land directive; Oct. 9, 2026 letter to DEQ	Both through July 1, 2027, or until the governor or legislature directs otherwise	State agencies must pause unapproved easements, leases, rights-of-way, land-use permits, and sales of state land for data centers. Separately, DEQ was told to pause processing and issuance of air and water permits (NPDES, WPCF, ACDP, Title V) for new or expanded data centers, plus municipal wastewater-permit changes made to serve them. Projects that already hold every needed DEQ permit are not the target. Kotek’s office has said she lacks authority for a full private-land statutory moratorium.	Enacted as directives. DEQ told reporters it has paused new and renewed air and water permits for data-center facilities, including pending applications, while it works out details. A three-year statutory moratorium is being pushed for the 2027 session. [15] [16] [17] [18]

Other statewide instruments reported by trackers, not re-verified against the order text here: Maryland review of state action on facilities of 25 MW or more (task force announced around Sept. 23, 2026); Massachusetts executive order requiring local community-benefits agreements before state permitting; Kentucky EO 2026-494; Louisiana EO 26-058; Pennsylvania EO 2026-05; Utah EO 2026-03; Virginia EO 22. Treat those as tracker entries until the order is read. [4] [2]

Proposed and failed statewide moratorium bills, as of late September 2026 tracking: Maine LD 307 passed and was vetoed (override failed); Delaware SB 353 (pause through Jan. 31, 2027) failed a Senate rules vote 6–15; New Hampshire HB 1265 killed in the House; Georgia, Indiana, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Connecticut, and Rhode Island moratorium or exemption-repeal bills died at adjournment. Michigan, New Jersey, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and Virginia still had pause or siting bills in play or carried into 2027. New York’s A11560/S10642 remained unsigned. [19] [2] [20]

Post-election overlay: Cleanview reported that nine states now have a governor or governor-elect who has imposed or promised a pause, covering 158.6 GW of planned capacity, about 41 percent of the U.S. pipeline it tracks. Another 69.2 GW sits in states where the winner wants tax or rule changes but has not backed a pause. The Financial Times reported Democratic wins in Texas, Georgia, and Ohio by candidates who pledged crackdowns, including Hinojosa’s promise of an immediate Texas moratorium. Those are campaign positions, not enacted law. [14] [21]

3. Major city, county, and township instruments

This is a curated set of high-impact or well-documented actions, not the full list. Durations are as last reported; many auto-extend or get replaced by zoning rewrites.

Northern Virginia and Maryland — restrictive zoning more than bans

• Loudoun County, Va.: On March 18, 2025, the Board ended by-right data centers (7–2). New projects need a special exception, with public hearings. Grandfathering was limited to applications accepted before Feb. 12, 2025, more than 500 feet from homes, diligently pursued, and not substantially modified. About 17 pending administrative applications, roughly 11 million square feet, were still under that grandfather line as of September 2026; a move to strip it was sent for a legal opinion rather than adopted. On Sept. 15, 2026, the Board directed staff (7–1) to draft a resolution pausing final votes on legislative data-center and substation applications for up to 12 months, the Virginia statutory maximum, while Phase 2 zoning is written. That resolution was headed to a Nov. 17, 2026 vote. Phase 2 (siting, substations, on-site generation, noise, height) is scheduled for a Board hearing in July 2027. State law now also requires energy, noise, and utility-substation disclosures for high-energy-use facilities of 100 MW or more. Status: by-right elimination enacted; application pause proposed, not yet the final vote. [22] [23] [24] [25]
• Prince William Digital Gateway (QTS/Blackstone): the roughly $100 billion, 2,100-acre proposal is dead after QTS withdrew its last Virginia Supreme Court appeal. That is a project withdrawal, not a countywide ban. [1]
• Other Virginia locals reported by Programs.com: Chesapeake 8-month application pause; Virginia Beach 12-month; Warrenton ban; Suffolk temporary ban (October 2026). A state senator has circulated a three-year statewide pause draft for 2027. [2] [1]
• Baltimore County, Md.: moratorium extended through the end of 2027 on Sept. 22, 2026. [26]

Large cities

• Indianapolis: moratorium extended through Dec. 31, 2027. [1]
• Nashville: pause on new construction through Dec. 1, 2026, plus a ban on facilities over 500,000 square feet (tracker). [2]
• Seattle: emergency one-year ordinance, reported June 9, 2026, covering loads of 20 MVA or more (tracker). [5] [2]
• Denver: temporary pause on new applications until May 2027 (tracker; also described as a one-year pause adopted around May 2026). [2]
• Cleveland: July 15, 2026, emergency pause cut in committee from 12 months to 3 months, passed 14–1 (Moratorium Nation). [5]
• Minneapolis: 6-month pause on facilities over 350,000 square feet (tracker). Milwaukee: 1-year pause reported October 2026. Madison: 12-month. [2]
• Aurora, Colo.: council was scheduled to vote on an indefinite freeze on new or expanded applications. A special session on Oct. 19 was canceled; the regular-meeting vote was still pending in late October coverage. Existing applications, including Vantage’s Trident project, would not have been covered; Vantage separately agreed to seek other sites. Confirm the final vote before treating this as enacted. [27]
• Chicago: mayor’s executive order asking the council for a moratorium was still pending in the Programs.com tracker. [2]
• Louisville Metro: 6-month pause, 24–1, August 2026 (tracker). New Orleans: 1-year, January 2026 (tracker). Memphis: 135-day, October 2026 (tracker). [2]

Ohio — the densest local map, and a Supreme Court green light for timing

Lordstown (Trumbull County) is the precedent developers will cite. Council passed a data-center ban on Nov. 3, 2025 (Ordinance 57-2025), then replaced it in January 2026 with a 180-day moratorium expiring July 4, 2026, and extended it another 180 days (reports differ on whether the extension runs into January 2027 or through the rest of 2026). Bristolville 25 Developer submitted a site plan days before the ban, for four three-story buildings on industrial land. On Oct. 20, 2026, the Ohio Supreme Court held unanimously (2026-Ohio-4073) that the village had no duty to finish site-plan review once the moratorium was in effect, because the developer had not completed the steps required to apply for a permit. Status: moratorium extended; litigation resolved in the village’s favor. A separate SoftBank/OpenAI Stargate site in Lordstown is a different project and was not the subject of that case. [28] [29] [30]

Shalersville Township (Portage County) extended a years-long moratorium another six months on Oct. 20, 2026, after it had been set to expire Nov. 3. The fight is over a proposed 750 MW Bitdeer project near the Ohio Turnpike. Status: extended. [31]

Programs.com also lists Lima at 18 months, Pioneer at 6 months, Fayette County through June 2027, and North Royalton Ordinance 26-118 as a one-year emergency freeze. [2] [3]

Georgia, New York, and other notables

• DeKalb County, Ga.: moratorium first adopted July 8, 2025, extended several times, most recently through March 30, 2027. In June 2026 the commission rejected its own proposed data-center zoning rules and still kept the freeze. Status: extended and litigated (see below). [32] [33]
• Hamburg, N.Y. (Erie County): Town Board unanimously adopted a one-year moratorium on Nov. 2, 2026, covering permits, applications, and materials for building, expanding, or operating data centers. Buffalo, West Seneca, and Tonawanda had already acted; Tonawanda’s instrument is a one-year freeze on centers of 20 MW or more. [34] [3]
• Edgecombe County, N.C.: two-year moratorium on accepting, processing, and approving data-center applications (in force as of early August 2026 tracking). Madison County, Ga.: short emergency freeze extended to about Feb. 22, 2027. [3]
• Westbrook, Maine: on Nov. 3, 2026, the council voted unanimously to make a moratorium permanent by removing data centers from the only zone that allowed them. [26]
• Monterey Park, Calif.: voter-approved ban in June 2026, reported above 86 percent. Alhambra voters banned data centers on Nov. 3, 2026. [2] [35]
• New Jersey: Gothamist counted 93 municipal bans by September 2026; Savrn carries 108 entries including failed and tabled measures. The mechanism is prohibited-use zoning, not a moratorium, because state law has barred development moratoriums since 1985. [4] [1]
• Cherokee Nation: barred large-scale data centers on tribal land in Oklahoma on Aug. 10, 2026 (tracker). [2]
• Still pending as of Nov. 5: Guilford County, N.C., had a public hearing that day on a moratorium on development approvals for new data centers, with possible exemptions (file 2026-452). Vilas County, Wis., zoning committee recommended a 12-month freeze; full board vote was set for Nov. 10. Tazewell County, Ill., zoning board recommended a nine-month freeze running to July 28, 2027, still moving through committee. [3] [36] [37]

4. November 3, 2026 ballot results

Ballotpedia counted at least 50 local data-center measures in 13 states in 2026, 41 of them on November 3 in 10 states. No statewide data-center measure was on the ballot. Duane Morris reported that of 39 November 3 measures called by Wednesday evening, voters chose limits in 38 and support in one. Six earlier 2026 measures had all gone against data centers. [38]

Data Center Dynamics’ November 4 tally, the most jurisdiction-specific news account: [35]

Ohio — at least 14 bans or new limits passed

• Full or village bans, enacted by voters: Granville (Licking), Hubbard (Trumbull), Piqua (Miami), Upper Sandusky (Wyandot), Urbana (Champaign).
• Bans above 25 MW: Conneaut (Ashtabula), Defiance, Oregon (Lucas), Sunbury (Delaware). Pataskala (Licking) and Trenton (Butler) banned large-scale or above-25-MW centers. Data Center Debate reported Pataskala at 5,418–1,941 and Trenton just under 80 percent. [26]
• Grove City (Franklin): public vote required for projects over 50 acres, 20 MW, or 500,000 gallons of water a day.
• Perry (Lake): hyperscale projects seeking tax incentives must post financial guarantees.
• Ashville (Pickaway): voters rejected an EdgeConneX term sheet. Wilmington (Clinton): voters rejected light-industrial rezoning of four parcels.
• Monroe and Sprigg townships (Adams): adopted township zoning so unincorporated areas can control major projects.

Other states

• Maine: North Berwick banned centers of 25,000 square feet or more. Peru, Wells, and Eliot adopted 180-day moratoriums. Wiscasset adopted six months. Sabattus adopted a moratorium on centers of 10,000 square feet or 20 MW or more through May 2027.
• Illinois: Bloomington advisory moratorium on large projects (length not specified). Morgan County voted to restrict construction. Advisory “no” votes in Chouteau, Granite City, Nameoki, and Venice townships (Madison) and Joliet (Will). These advisory questions do not themselves enact zoning.
• Kansas: El Dorado approved a 10-year ban on “high impact” data centers and large battery storage. Americus banned both with no end date. Emporia banned centers above 10 MW and 100,000 gallons of water a day, but a court had not decided whether the vote has legal force. Ottawa’s voted ban on centers larger than 25 MW was also awaiting a court ruling. Status: enacted by voters, litigated or likely to be.
• California: Alhambra banned data centers.
• Florida: Edgewater charter amendment bars new centers and expansions. The city council had already approved a moratorium in September.
• Nevada: Boulder City voted down allowing data centers in the Eldorado Valley Transfer Area.
• New Jersey: Downe Township voted against a question asking whether residents support data-center development.
• Wisconsin: Janesville requires a public vote before a project above $450 million can proceed at the former GM/JATCO site.
• North Dakota outlier: Harwood voted down an extra review step for industrial projects, including data centers. That is the clearest November 3 win for the industry in the DCD tally.

5. Litigation: moratoriums are holding when the application was not vested

CREdocket’s tracker, updated November 4, 2026, listed 31 data-center matters in 21 states: 13 filed, 8 pending, 7 with a ruling, 2 on appeal, 1 settled. That is a coverage list, not every case filed. [39]

Cases tied directly to freezes:

• Lordstown, Ohio: developer lost. A moratorium can stop site-plan review of an application that had not reached permit stage. Decided Oct. 20, 2026. [28]
• DeKalb County, Ga.: Shadowbox Studios and Henrico 183 sued Aug. 5, 2026, claiming more than $30 million spent in reliance on three written staff interpretations that a data center was allowed by right on about 166 acres, and claiming the extended moratorium cut property value by $200 million. The county denies staff authorized construction, argues sovereign immunity because the freeze is temporary, and has moved to dismiss the challenge to the moratorium. The zoning board of appeals on Sept. 9, 2026 upheld staff’s refusal to accept the permit. Status: litigated, unresolved. [32] [40]
• Other freeze suits on the CREdocket list, not independently briefed here: Thor Equities v. Urbana, Ohio (filed June 19, 2026; plaintiff says $19.6 million spent on a $1 billion project); DC Blox v. Metro Nashville (ruling issued; about $23 million site); Hexa Builders v. Monroe Township, N.J. (about $300 million sought over a ban); Eagan, Minn. (one-year moratorium challenge); Wixom, Mich. (55-acre project blocked by a moratorium, filed August 2026). [39]
• Hill County, Texas: tracker says a local restriction was rescinded after a lawsuit. [2]
• Microsoft filed an Aug. 28, 2026 notice of appeal in Virginia to preserve a challenge to the SCC’s order assigning some transmission costs to large loads. As of mid-September the company said it had not yet filed the petition; the window ran into late November. [41]

The pattern: courts are more willing to let a timed freeze stop an incomplete application (Lordstown) than to ignore written vested-rights claims (DeKalb is the test). Kansas voter bans in Emporia and Ottawa are in the same gray zone.

6. Large-load tariffs: the cost shift is moving faster than the bans

The tariff design that is spreading has five pieces: a separate rate class, a minimum-demand floor (often 60–85 percent of contracted load), a long contract (10–14 years), collateral or an exit fee, and a requirement that the customer pay for the substation and the line that exists only to serve it. Utilities that have done this report that speculative queue requests fall out once a signature and collateral are required.

In effect or ordered

• AEP Ohio Schedule DCT (PUCO Case 24-508-EL-ATA). Adopted July 9, 2025; effective July 23, 2025. Covers new data-center load above 25 MW, with affiliates aggregated. During ramp, monthly billing demand cannot be less than 85 percent of contract capacity. PUCO’s approval also ended AEP Ohio’s own moratorium on new data-center connections. By Feb. 12, 2026, AEP Ohio said customers had signed 5,642 MW under the new tariff, on top of 12,219 MW signed before it, for 17,861 MW contracted through 2035, against a system peak of roughly 8,000–10,500 MW. The queue that had been discussed around 30 GW was cut to about 13 GW of projects willing to contract. On Aug. 5, 2026, PUCO ordered a further protection: data-center customers returning to default service must give 180 days’ notice, and the energy procured for them is charged only to them. AEP has said regulators in Indiana, Kentucky, and West Virginia have approved similar large-load tariffs, with proposals pending in Michigan, Oklahoma, Texas, and Virginia. [42] [43] [44] [45]
• Dominion Energy Virginia GS-5 (SCC Case PUR-2025-00058). Final order Nov. 25, 2025; effective Jan. 1, 2027. Customers of 25 MW or more with a load factor of at least 75 percent. Minimum charges of 85 percent of contracted transmission and distribution demand and 60 percent of generation demand. Contract term of 14 years, including a ramp. Collateral reported at up to about $1.5 million per MW in some accounts, or up to 60 percent of minimum charges for customers without sufficient credit. Legacy customers served before Jan. 1, 2016, have exemptions. Separately, the SCC’s July 31, 2026 Rider T1 order (PUR-2026-00056) requires a mandatory contribution in aid of construction for “direct-connect” substations and lines, and opened PUR-2026-00131 for the amended line-extension policy. Using the new allocation, the commission cut the proposed typical residential Rider T1 increase from $2.90 to $0.94 a month. [46] [47] [48] [49]
• Delaware, signed Aug. 26, 2026. House Bill 233 creates a separate rate class for large energy-use facilities (defined in the bill text around 20 MW and NAICS 518210, with later amendments using higher demand tests) so transmission, distribution, and capacity costs are not shifted to other customers, and so these loads can be curtailed first in emergencies. House Bill 445 is a bring-your-own-generation requirement, including a clean-energy share, over about 10 years. House Bill 310 bars these facilities from job-creation tax credits. Utilities must file the new rates on a statutory clock (180 days in the enrolled text). Senate Bill 353, an actual development moratorium through Jan. 31, 2027, failed. Status of the rate and generation bills: enacted. Status of the moratorium: failed. [50] [51] [52] [20]
• California, signed Sept. 21, 2026, generally effective Jan. 1, 2027. Seven bills. The cost-shift core is SB 886 and AB 2383 (Chapter 435). The CPUC must adopt interconnection and retail tariffs by Jan. 1, 2028. Generation-tariff thresholds cannot be set above 25 MW. Data centers must cover incremental generation costs for at least 10 years, with collateral or prepayment, minimum payments tied to the load they applied for, and fees if they never connect. Transmission-upgrade costs are assigned to the interconnecting data center to the extent federal law allows. SB 1168 directs a study of rate structures so data centers pay their share of grid costs. The package also adds water and energy disclosure and changes CEQA treatment (SB 887). It does not cap energy or water use. [53] [54] [55] [56]
• Duke Energy Carolinas / Progress, North Carolina: an October 2026 settlement, if the Utilities Commission approves it, would apply contract protections to large-load customers of 50 MW or more with an 80 percent load factor that sign after June 1, 2026, down from a prior 100 MW practice. It includes a nonrefundable upfront payment for facilities that serve only that customer, such as a dedicated substation. A ruling was expected around mid-November 2026. Status: proposed settlement, not yet a final order in the sources reviewed. [57]
• Oregon POWER Act: a large-load rate class was already on the books before Kotek’s 2026 permit pause; the pause is separate from the tariff. [2]

Federal floor, not yet law

S. 5653, a Senate permitting bill, would add a Federal Power Act section requiring covered loads of 20 MW or more to pay their full incremental grid costs, with nothing allocated to other customers. States could charge more and credit the excess to other customers. A floor vote was reported as targeted for Nov. 9, 2026. Status: introduced, not enacted. [58]

Ohio lawmakers on Nov. 5, 2026, were reported introducing a bill that would cut the sales-tax exemption roughly in half (75 percent if the project is on a brownfield and brings its own power), cap local property-tax abatements at 50 percent, end access to the 30-year megaproject job grant, and direct PUCO to create a statewide data-center rate class modeled on AEP Ohio’s tariff. Status: introduced, not passed. [59]

7. Tax-break rollbacks

The incentive map flipped in 2026. A bill tracker covering actions through Sept. 28, 2026, found 56 bills in 21 states to cut or limit a data-center tax break, against 14 bills in 8 states to add or widen one. In 2025 the adds had led. What actually became law is a shorter list. [19]

S&P Global Market Intelligence, looking at May–August 2026, counted eight states that paused or repealed sales-tax exemptions or benefit programs: pauses in Arizona, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Ohio; repeals in Maine, Minnesota, and Nebraska. [60]

State	Action	Date	What changed	Status
Arizona	3-year pause on new Computer Data Center Program (TPT/use-tax) certifications	New applicants closed July 1, 2026, through June 30, 2029	Existing certifications continue	Enacted in the budget signed by Gov. Hobbs [60] [61]
Ohio	Pause on new sales-and-use exemption applications	Since about May 27, 2026	Existing awards not described as revoked. Program had grown to roughly $1.6 billion in the last year, per local reporting on the new bill	Administrative pause; further statutory cut introduced Nov. 5, 2026, not yet law [60] [59] [61]
Illinois	Gov. Pritzker paused acceptance of new exemption applications	2026, described as indefinite	Not a statutory repeal	Administrative pause [60]
Massachusetts	Gov. Healey paused new exemption applications	2026, described as indefinite	Not a statutory repeal	Administrative pause [60]
New Jersey	End Data Center Tax Credits Act (A5165/S4390)	Signed around Aug. 27, 2026; DC Hub lists repeal effective Aug. 1, 2026	Eliminates remaining authority under the Next New Jersey AI/data-center credit program (reported as $250 million to $500 million depending on the source). Credits already awarded stand	Enacted. Sources differ on the unused balance; do not treat either figure as audited [19] [61] [60]
Minnesota	H.F. 9 (2025 first special session)	Electricity exemption ended after June 30, 2025	Equipment and software exemption remains; its term was lengthened from 20 to 35 years	Partial repeal, already in effect before the 2026 wave [61] [60]
Maine	LD 713	Signed April 14, 2026	Excludes data centers from the business-equipment tax exemption and the Dirigo incentive program	Enacted. The separate moratorium bill was vetoed [19]
Nebraska	Executive Order 26-17	2026	Ended tax incentives	Enacted as an executive action, per tracker; confirm the order text before relying on scope [2] [60]
North Carolina	Budget repeal of the sales-tax exemption on electricity used by qualifying data centers	Effective about July 1, 2026	Electricity purchases become subject to the combined 7 percent state and local sales tax. Commerce had estimated about $20 million a year in electricity-related exemptions. Equipment exemption and the $75 million / 5-year investment threshold were described as unchanged. Gov. Stein has called for full repeal of remaining exemptions at the end of 2032	Electricity piece enacted; full repeal not enacted [60] [61] [62]
Washington	ESSB 6231, Chapter 266, Laws of 2026	Signed April 1, 2026; key sections effective July 1, 2026	No new certificates for data centers that qualify through refurbishment; existing refurbishment certificates expire July 1, 2026. Replacement server equipment is no longer exempt, rural or urban. Urban-county new-construction certificates were already scheduled to close later (July 1, 2028 in one bill report). Initial equipment in a qualifying new data center can still be exempt	Enacted. This hits refresh capex, not just greenfield [63] [64] [65]
Delaware	HB 310	Signed Aug. 26, 2026	Large energy-use facilities cannot take Blue Collar job-creation credits or related fee reductions	Enacted [50]
Virginia	Kept the sales-tax exemption; added a temporary consumption tax	Reported at $0.011/kWh	Not a rollback of the exemption	Enacted tax on use, per tracker and Grant Thornton summary; verify the statute before modeling [66] [2]
Texas	No repeal yet	Abbott said Sept. 21, 2026 he will work next session to eliminate financial incentives	Not enacted	Proposed [10]
New York	Hochul said she will pursue repeal of sales-tax exemptions for large data centers	Announced with EO 62 on July 14, 2026	Not enacted	Proposed [6]

States that widened breaks in the same window, so the map is not one-way: Arkansas, Indiana, Kansas, Montana, and Wisconsin, per the September bill tracker. West Virginia still offers a sales-tax exemption and a reduced property-tax assessment and preempts some local zoning. [19] [2]

Federal proposals, none enacted: Wyden discussion draft (Oct. 23, 2026) for an excise tax on data-center service receipts plus denial of bonus depreciation, Opportunity Zone treatment, and certain REIT qualifying-income treatment; Warner S.5054 to deny bonus depreciation for AI data-center property and require energy and water reporting; Moreno S.5689 (RECLAIM) to bar federal aid and incentives and impose an excise tax equal to 100 percent of state and local incentives received; Hawley S.5418 to exclude data centers from Opportunity Zones. [66] [66]

8. What this means if you are trying to build or compete

The projects that still move are the ones that were vested before the freeze, that bring generation and a substation they pay for, or that sit in a jurisdiction that has finished its zoning rewrite and wants the tax base. A new 100 MW application filed into an open township in Michigan, Ohio, Georgia, or North Carolina is now the exception, not the base case.

Three mechanisms matter more than the headline count of bans.

First, timing creates vested rights or destroys them. Lordstown shows a site plan filed days before a moratorium does not lock the old zoning if the permit steps were incomplete. DeKalb is the opposite risk: three written staff letters plus $30 million of reliance may force a county to honor a use it has since frozen. File only when the zoning path is real, and do not treat staff emails as a permit.

Second, the tariff is becoming the binding constraint even where zoning is open. AEP Ohio’s 85 percent demand ratchet and collateral requirement cut a 30 GW conversation down to signed contracts. Dominion’s GS-5, live Jan. 1, 2027, puts a 14-year, 85/60 percent floor under every new 25 MW customer in the world’s largest data-center market. California’s 10-year generation payment and Delaware’s bring-your-own-generation rule do the same job by statute. A campus that cannot post collateral or build its own power is now uneconomic in those territories regardless of land price.

Third, tax abatements are no longer the default underwriting assumption. Washington’s July 1, 2026 change taxes replacement servers, which is where most of a data center’s capital goes after year one. Arizona, Ohio, Illinois, and Massachusetts have closed the door to new exemption applicants. New Jersey ended unused AI credits. Model a project with no new sales-tax exemption unless the certificate is already in hand.

What would still change the map: whether Hochul signs or vetoes New York’s 20 MW legislative moratorium; whether ERCOT’s December audit ends or extends the Texas permit halt; whether Hinojosa, Bottoms, and the new Ohio governor turn campaign pauses into statutes in 2027; the Guilford County vote and the Loudoun Nov. 17 pause resolution; and the Duke settlement order expected in North Carolina this month. Local ballot bans passed on November 3 are in force as charter or zoning amendments unless a court, as in Emporia and Ottawa, holds the vote exceeded local power.

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Recent Findings Supplement (November 2026)

Local ballot measures and moratoria surged in the November 3, 2026 midterms, with dozens of restrictions passing, especially in Ohio.[1][2]

Voters approved most anti-data center measures amid concerns over energy, water, and infrastructure strain. Ohio saw the highest activity, with at least 14 restrictions or bans enacted locally; other states like Maine, Illinois, and others added temporary pauses or advisory limits. These build on hundreds of prior local actions tracked since mid-2025, with over 500 in force or recently adopted across key states as of early November 2026.[3]

• Ohio examples (Nov 3, 2026 votes): Granville, Hubbard, Piqua, Upper Sandusky, and Urbana banned data centers outright. Conneaut, Defiance, Oregon, and Sunbury banned facilities >25 MW. Grove City required public votes for projects >50 acres, >20 MW, or high water use.[1]
• Maine: Peru, Wells, and Eliot approved 180-day moratoria; Wiscasset a 6-month pause; Sabattus a moratorium on facilities ≥10,000 sq ft or ≥20 MW until May 2027.[1]
• Illinois: Bloomington approved an advisory moratorium on large-scale projects; Morgan County and multiple townships (e.g., in Madison County, Joliet) voted against or to restrict data centers.[1]
• Other recent actions: Casey County, KY approved a moratorium (Nov 4, 2026); St. Johns County, FL adopted one running to Oct. 31, 2027; Cumberland County, NC scheduled an ordinance vote with setbacks (moratorium ending Dec. 15); Aurora, CO considered an indefinite moratorium (vote pending around early Nov.).[4][5]

For developers: These add layers of local approval risk and delay; projects now often require public votes or face outright bans in growing numbers of jurisdictions. Track Siting Radar or similar inventories for hyper-local updates, as activity remains high into late 2026.[3]

State-level pauses and executive actions expanded or continued in 2026, layering atop local efforts.[6][7]

New York’s Executive Order 62 (July 14, 2026) imposed the first statewide moratorium on facilities ≥50 MW while rules are developed. Texas Gov. Abbott directed a halt on TCEQ permits for data centers (Sept. 21, 2026) pending ERCOT audit; some permits issued post-directive were later suspended. Oregon paused state land transactions for projects through July 1, 2027 (announced Sept. 8, 2026). Other states like Illinois paused new incentive agreements.[8][9]

• Additional updates: Little Rock, AR saw repeated failed attempts at a 6-month hyperscale moratorium (second failure in Oct. 2026). Nashville paused new construction through Dec. 1; Indianapolis extended its moratorium to end-2027.[4][6]

Implications: State pauses create multi-year uncertainty for permitting and grid connections, shifting activity toward jurisdictions with clearer paths or pushing developers to self-generate power or negotiate community benefits.[6]

Utilities and regulators rapidly adopted or proposed large-load tariffs emphasizing cost recovery from data centers.[10][11]

Trends include upfront payments/studies, exit fees, ramp-up schedules, minimum demand charges (often 80-85%+ of contracted load), collateral/hold-harmless provisions, and longer contract terms (averaging 12 years post-2025 vs. 5 years earlier). Thresholds commonly start at 50-100 MW. Pennsylvania PUC approved a model tariff (recent action noted Nov. 2026) requiring large loads to cover new infrastructure costs upfront. AEP Ohio’s tariff (approved earlier) halved its large-load forecast. Duke Energy NC settlement (Oct. 2026) extended protections to ≥50 MW loads. Wisconsin utilities proposed tariffs at 100 MW threshold; Xcel pursued them in MN, WI, CO, and TX. FERC actions supported cost-recovery agreements.[10][12][13]

For entrants/competitors: Tariffs raise effective costs (e.g., +$10M first-year for a 100 MW facility in some cases) and weed out speculative projects, potentially streamlining queues for committed hyperscalers willing to pay for speed. Expect more filings and minimums.[12]

States continued rolling back or pausing data center tax incentives, with federal proposals emerging.[14][15]

Post-May 2026 actions include: New Jersey repealed remaining AI/data center credits (Aug. 2026); North Carolina repealed electricity sales/use tax exemption in 2026 budget (equipment incentives remain); Arizona paused new Computer Data Center Program applicants (July 1, 2026–June 30, 2029); Ohio paused since May 27, 2026. Other repeals/pauses in ME, MN, NE; narrower conditions in PA, DE, NC. Georgia’s Fulton County opposed new abatements. Ohio proposed legislation (early Nov. 2026) halving sales tax exemptions (to 50%, or 75% for brownfields/self-powered), capping local abatements at 50%, and ending certain grants.[16][17]

Federal: Sen. Wyden released a Nov. 3, 2026 discussion draft for an excise tax on data center services plus restrictions on bonus depreciation, Opportunity Zones, and REIT treatment for new facilities. Related bills target incentives or impose recapture.[15]

Implications: Incentives are no longer a reliable edge; developers are adapting by proceeding without them or focusing on brownfield/self-powered sites. Expect higher effective project costs and more scrutiny on fiscal impacts.[16]

Broader context and trackers: As of early November 2026, inventories like Siting Radar report 528+ local measures in force/recently adopted across tracked states (heavy in MI, OH, NC, GA), plus ongoing hearings. GatherGov analysis identified 11+ restriction tools used in ~2,100 jurisdictions. New Democratic governors-elect in key states (e.g., TX, GA) campaigned on further pauses or conditions, potentially affecting large planned capacity.[3][18]

For database users/competitors: Cross-reference primary sources (local ordinances, utility dockets, state budgets, FERC filings) and trackers like Halcyon or Siting Radar. Focus entry on compliant sites (e.g., brownfields, union labor, full cost recovery) or states with stable rules; monitor lame-duck sessions and new administrations for extensions or tightenings. Data evolves quickly—verify latest votes and filings directly.