Developer Tom Moulton bought the 200,000-square-foot warehouse after it had sat unused for about 15 years. In May, he approached Nottingham’s Planning Board for an informal discussion about converting it to a data center, saying he had no formal plans and wanted to hear the town’s concerns.

The idea drew a petition with more than 25,000 signatures. Moulton said he received hate mail and threats, which led him to contact the FBI. Town officials moved the planned May 27 meeting to an elementary school gym to accommodate the expected crowd. Moulton withdrew the proposal hours before the meeting, but 244 people had signed up to speak against a data center in town.

Residents cited potential harm to water and ecosystems, noise and higher energy costs. The Planning Board later established a one-year moratorium on data center construction while the town considers permanent zoning rules. Voters approved the pause by a wide margin in a special election in early September.

Nottingham is among several New England municipalities considering restrictions or bans, even as state-level action to block data center development has not materialized. Canterbury, New Hampshire, voted to prohibit data centers in March. Holyoke, Massachusetts, became the first town in that state to ban future facilities. Rochester, New Hampshire, is considering significant restrictions.

The debate has also reached Bow, New Hampshire, where the retired Merrimack Station coal plant could become the site of a large data center. Public records indicate the site’s owner may be in talks about a project. As of April, Eversource was planning a feasibility study for a 350-megawatt facility on behalf of the site’s owner.

After the possibility became public in late August, Bow residents organized against the proposal. Leslie Ring, speaking at a September protest, raised concerns about the town’s water supply, property values and whether the project would deliver the economic benefits supporters might expect.

Bow Select Board Chair Kip McDaniel said the board set aside time for public comment even though it does not approve building projects and no application had been filed. Residents, he said, wanted clarity. People from neighboring communities also spoke, including Pembroke resident Beth Hamilton-Karas, whose home is less than a mile from the site.

The regional response reflects New England’s longstanding tradition of local control, including town meetings where residents debate and vote on local laws and budgets. Jonathan Wharton, a Southern Connecticut State University professor who studies government in the region, said local participation has deep historical roots. Emily Hoch, a senior fellow at Data Center Watch, said local authority over development varies across the country and can be particularly influential in New England.

The facilities can carry substantial energy demands. The federal government defines a hyperscale data center, often used for artificial intelligence training, as one that uses at least 100 megawatts at peak load, among other criteria—roughly the energy use of 80,000 U.S. households. New England, particularly its northern states, has relatively few data centers and none meeting that power threshold, according to Cleanview, which tracks data center and energy development.

Bow’s debate also raises a challenge for town-by-town decision-making: large projects can affect people beyond municipal boundaries. McDaniel said he supports local control but believes nearby communities should have a voice when a development could affect them. “Just because they're not within the city limits or the municipal limits of Bow doesn't mean they shouldn't have a say in this,” he said.