In brief
- Wall Street lenders are factoring community opposition into credit-risk assessments for data center projects.
- At least 75 projects worth roughly $130 billion faced local opposition in the first quarter of 2026.
- Banks remain interested in AI infrastructure but are paying closer attention to permitting and community resistance.
Wall Street banks financing the AI data center boom are paying closer attention to opposition from communities where projects are planned.
According to a report by Reuters on Monday, banks and asset managers are increasingly weighing local resistance when deciding whether to finance data centers, as protests and permitting disputes raise the risk of delays or cancellations.
While lenders already have to assess technical, environmental, zoning, insurance, and financial risks, now they are also weighing local concerns over electricity costs, water use, noise, and the size of data centers.
“Readiness means all the permitting and approvals that are required, and the community support from the people who are going to live around it,” Bank of America infrastructure finance chief Karen Fang told Reuters.
At least 75 data center projects worth roughly $130 billion faced local opposition during the first quarter of 2026, according to a report by Data Center Watch. Last month, Goldman Sachs estimated that more than $5 trillion would be spent on AI infrastructure by 2030.
The news comes amid growing organized opposition to data centers across the U.S. So far in 2026, there have been nearly 40 arrests linked to data center protests.
