Stopping a Project
Data Center Moratoriums and Bans Tracker: Every State That Has Paused, and the Pauses Now Being Sued
As of late August 2026, 40 states have at least one local data center moratorium or ban, 94 were adopted in 2026 alone, and New York has the first statewide pause. The running list: statewide actions, the counties and cities that have paused, the permanent bans, the four states with none, and the moratoriums the industry is now suing to overturn. Updated as the record changes.
Key Takeaways
- As of August 26, 2026, 40 states have at least one active local data center ban or moratorium, and 94 local moratoriums and bans were adopted in 2026 alone, roughly four times the total for all of 2025, according to the Programs.com national tracker.
- Four states account for 43 percent of local pauses: Michigan (63), Ohio (53), Georgia (47), and North Carolina (40). Only Alaska, Hawaii, West Virginia, and Wyoming have none.
- New York became the first state with a statewide moratorium on July 14, 2026, when Governor Hochul signed Executive Order 62 pausing state environmental permits for new hyperscale data centers for up to a year. Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Louisiana, Nebraska, and Utah have issued executive orders of their own.
- Nearly a third of Indiana's counties have moved to restrict data centers, with at least 17 temporary moratoriums and outright bans in Marshall and Cass counties; Indianapolis voted 23 to 1 on August 10, 2026 to bar new data centers through the end of 2027.
- Harford County, Maryland adopted the first permanent countywide ban in its state on June 9, 2026, by a 7 to 0 vote. Developers and industry groups are now suing to overturn pauses in Texas, Ohio, Rhode Island, Kentucky, Tennessee, South Carolina, and Georgia, and a Kansas city has sued its own residents to stop a ban from reaching the ballot.
In this article
How many places have paused data centers? As of August 26, 2026, 40 of the 50 states have at least one active local data center moratorium or ban, 94 local pauses and bans were adopted in 2026 alone, about four times as many as in all of 2025, and only Alaska, Hawaii, West Virginia, and Wyoming have none, according to the national tracker maintained by Programs.com. New York became the first state to pause statewide on July 14, 2026. This page is our running record of that wave: the statewide actions, the counties and cities that have paused or banned, what a moratorium does and does not stop, and the growing list of pauses the industry is suing to overturn. We update it as the record changes, and every entry below is attributed to a named source so you can check it yourself.
The numbers, and where they come from
The most complete count of local data center pauses is the tracker published by Programs.com, which counts legally binding instruments only: ordinances, resolutions, zoning orders, and executive orders that suspend data center applications, permits, or construction for a stated period. It excludes tax incentive pauses and individual project denials. As of its August 26, 2026 update, the tracker reported:
| Measure | Count |
|---|---|
| States with at least one active local ban or moratorium | 40 |
| Local moratoriums and bans adopted in 2026 (through August 26) | 94 |
| Ratio of 2026 adoptions to all of 2025 | About 4 to 1 |
| States with no restrictions at any level | 4 (Alaska, Hawaii, West Virginia, Wyoming) |
| Local pauses in the four leading states | Michigan 63, Ohio 53, Georgia 47, North Carolina 40 (43 percent of the total) |
Other tallies exist and count differently. A separate industry map has reported more than 500 moratorium instruments across 42 states by mid 2026, a figure that includes pauses no longer in effect. We use the Programs.com numbers because its methodology is published and its entries are dated; where we cite a specific county or city below, we link to the primary source where one is available.
Statewide actions
Only one state has a statewide moratorium in effect, and it arrived by executive order rather than statute. Several others have acted through executive orders that stop short of a pause, and a wave of bills is pending for 2027 sessions.
| State | Action | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| New York | Executive Order 62, signed July 14, 2026 | Pauses state Department of Environmental Conservation discretionary permits for new hyperscale data centers (reported threshold 50 megawatts and up) for up to one year while the state prepares a generic environmental impact statement; permits already deemed complete proceed. The legislature's separate Responsible Data Center Development Act (20 megawatts and up) passed both chambers June 4, 2026 and remains unsigned. |
| Pennsylvania | Executive Order 2026-05, August 18, 2026 | Bars state permit review for data centers without local approval; moratorium bills pending. |
| Kentucky | Executive Order 2026-494 | Requires energy plans from projects and bars utilities from recovering data center costs from other ratepayers. |
| Louisiana | Executive Order 26-058 | Requires projects to fund their own power. |
| Nebraska | Executive Order 26-17 | Ended ImagiNE Act incentives for data centers. |
| Utah | Executive Order 2026-03 | Data Center Framework. |
| Florida | SB 484, signed May 7, 2026 | Hyperscale Act; raised the regulatory threshold to 100 megawatts. |
| Illinois, Ohio | Administrative pauses, 2026 | Illinois halted processing of data center tax incentives effective July 1, 2026; Ohio paused sales tax exemption requests in May 2026. |
| Michigan, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, Virginia | Bills pending | Statewide moratorium bills in committee or announced for 2027; North Carolina's H 1189 would reach 100 megawatts and up; Oregon's three year moratorium was announced August 4, 2026; Virginia carried HB 1515 to 2027 and enacted a $0.011 per kilowatt hour tax effective July 1, 2026. |
Congress has a bill too. U.S. Rep. André Carson of Indianapolis introduced the AI Data Center Moratorium Act of 2026 with Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to create a federal moratorium on AI data centers. It has not advanced. Source for the state table: the Programs.com tracker as of August 26, 2026, and for New York, the Governor's office and Axios.
The local wave, state by state
The action is local. Below are the entries we consider most consequential, either because they were firsts, because they came from major cities, or because they are permanent. Dates and vote counts are as reported by the Programs.com tracker unless a primary source is linked in the article sources.
| State | Jurisdiction | Action | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Indiana | Indianapolis / Marion County | Moratorium through December 31, 2027; council vote 23 to 1; Metropolitan Development Commission 6 to 0; three previously approved projects exempt | August 10, 2026 |
| Indiana | Marshall County, Cass County | Permanent bans; at least 17 other counties have temporary moratoriums and 11 have ordinances, per Indiana University's Environmental Resilience Institute | 2026 |
| Maryland | Harford County | Permanent ban in all zoning districts, 7 to 0; first county in the state; 13 of 24 Maryland counties now have moratoriums | June 9, 2026, signed June 10 |
| Maryland | Montgomery County; Prince George's County; Baltimore City | 18 month pause; 2 year hyperscale pause; 1 year pause on 10 megawatts and up | July 28; July 8; May 11, 2026 |
| North Carolina | Charlotte; Asheville; Greensboro; Surry County | 150 day pause, 11 to 0; 1 year; 180 days on 10 megawatts and up, 8 to 0; 2 years | June 8; June 23; August 18; July 20, 2026 |
| Georgia | Savannah; Camden County; Palmetto and Fayetteville | 155 day pause; first coastal county pause; permanent bans | August 2026; May 2026 |
| Michigan | Flint; Augusta Township | 12 month pause, 7 to 1; voters overturned a data center rezoning by roughly 90 percent | June 8; August 4, 2026 |
| Ohio | Cincinnati; Cleveland; Lordstown | Extended through end of 2026; 3 month pause; 180 day pause now challenged at the Ohio Supreme Court | 2026; July 15, 2026 |
| Texas | San Marcos; Hill County; Fort Worth | Permanent ban in all districts, 4 to 3, first city in the state; first county moratorium, rescinded June 5 after a lawsuit; 90 day pause | June 16; May 12; August 11, 2026 |
| Colorado | Denver; Broomfield | 1 year pause, unanimous; 18 months on 10 megawatts and up | May 21; July 7, 2026 |
| Washington | Seattle; Spokane; Snohomish County | Emergency 1 year pause on 20 MVA and up; 1 year, 6 to 1; emergency 6 months | June 9; June 22; June 24, 2026 |
| Kentucky | Louisville Metro; Lexington-Fayette; Cave City | 6 month pause, 24 to 1; pause through October 31, 2026; 1 year pause, sued by the Kentucky Industrial Alliance | August 13, 2026; 2026 |
| Tennessee | Nashville-Davidson; Knoxville; Knox County | Permit moratorium through December 1, 2026 and rules barring facilities over 500,000 square feet, with a federal suit by DC BLOX pending; emergency 1 year pause on 10 megawatts and up; 1 year | July 21; July 8, 2026; through June 30, 2027 |
| Minnesota | Minneapolis | 6 month pause on facilities over 350,000 square feet, 8 to 5 | Through November 21, 2026 |
| Mississippi | Jackson | 183 day citywide pause, 5 to 2; first in the state | July 14, 2026 |
| Missouri | Jackson County; St. Charles County; Peculiar | 180 day pause; 6 month pause; permanent removal from the zoning code | June 22; July 14, 2026 |
| Oklahoma | Oklahoma City; Edmond; Cherokee Nation | Pauses through end of 2026; hyperscale ban on tribal and trust lands | April 21; June 8; August 10, 2026 |
| Nevada | Reno; Nye County | Extended through August 31, 2027; permanent ban in Pahrump Valley, 5 to 0 | 2026; August 18 to 19, 2026 |
| California | Monterey Park | Permanent ban by ballot measure with more than 86 percent approval | June 2, 2026 |
| New Jersey | 32 municipalities including Bayonne, Jersey City, Cherry Hill | Permanent municipal bans, the most of any state; statewide Data Center Fair Share Act signed July 7, 2026 | Through August 13, 2026 |
| Rhode Island | Smithfield; Charlestown | Permanent bans, 4 to 1 (first in the state, developer litigating) and 5 to 0 | May 5; August 11, 2026 |
| Massachusetts | Lowell; Mansfield | 360 day pause, 10 to 0, first in the state; permanent ban | March 10, 2026 |
| Oregon | Hillsboro | 120 day land use pause; first in the state; the city hosts 21 data center sites | July 27, 2026 |
| Wisconsin | Madison; Manitowoc County; Superior | 12 month pause on 10,000 square feet and up; 18 months; 1 year | January 13; April 29; June 16, 2026 |
| Iowa | Linn County; Johnson County; Dubuque County | 18 month pause on rezoning into the large-scale district; 1 year; 12 months; about 30 local pauses statewide | 2026 |
| Kansas | Saline County; Riley County; Sedgwick County | 3 year pause through March 1, 2029; pauses through late 2026 | 2026 |
| Arkansas | Independence County; Madison County | 5 year pause through August 31, 2031, unanimous; 3 years | August 10; August 17, 2026 |
| New Mexico | Santa Fe County | 18 month pause with a 1 megawatt threshold, the lowest on the list | June 30, 2026 |
| New York | East Fishkill; Brookhaven; five Onondaga County towns | 3 year pause through July 1, 2029; 18 months; 1 year each | 2026 |
| Louisiana | New Orleans | 1 year citywide pause, extendable to two | January 2026 |
| Maine | Bangor | 180 day pause, 9 to 0 | April 13, 2026 |
| South Carolina | York County; Anderson County; Chester County | 9 month pause with existing QTS facilities exempt; 6 months; 6 months, sued by Valara Holdings | July 13; August 20, 2026 |
The pattern across the table is consistent: cities and counties are pausing while they assess what the projects will do to their grids, their water, and their neighborhoods, before the state has acted at all. For what that means where you live, see our state guides.
Moratoriums are now getting sued
The second half of the story is the counterattack. As pauses spread, developers, industry groups, and in one case a city government have gone to court to overturn them. The list as of early September 2026:
- Hill County, Texas. The first county moratorium in Texas, adopted May 12, 2026, was rescinded June 5 after a lawsuit. It lasted 24 days.
- Lordstown, Ohio. A 180 day pause, extended, is being challenged at the Ohio Supreme Court by Bristolville 25 Developer LLC over a $3.6 billion project.
- Smithfield, Rhode Island. The state's first permanent ban, adopted 4 to 1 on May 5, 2026, is being litigated by a developer.
- Cave City, Kentucky. A one year pause was sued by the Kentucky Industrial Alliance.
- Nashville, Tennessee. DC BLOX has a federal suit pending over Metro Nashville's permit moratorium and its new size limits.
- Chester County, South Carolina. A six month pause was sued by Valara Holdings.
- DeKalb County, Georgia. An extended moratorium is under suit by Shadowbox Studios.
- Harford County, Maryland. The permanent ban drew legal threats before the ink was dry, and local reporting has questioned whether its broad language will survive a challenge.
- Edgerton, Kansas. The mirror image: on August 14, 2026 the city sued the residents behind a verified citizen petition to ban high-impact data centers, asking a judge to void the petition before it reaches a vote. Our full report on the Edgerton case explains why it matters.
The legal theories in these challenges vary by state, but the recurring arguments are that a moratorium exceeds the local government's zoning authority, that it is preempted by state law, that it is not tied to a legitimate planning purpose, or that its language is so broad it sweeps in uses the state protects. Every community adopting a pause should draft it with those attacks in mind.
What a moratorium does and does not do
Because the word gets used loosely, the mechanics are worth spelling out.
- It pauses new applications, permits, or construction for a stated period. Most local pauses run six to eighteen months; a few run three to five years; New York's statewide order runs up to one year.
- It usually has a threshold. Santa Fe County's pause reaches facilities of 1 megawatt and up; New York's is reported at 50 megawatts; Nashville's rules target facilities over 500,000 square feet. Projects under the line proceed.
- It does not undo approvals. A project with a permit in hand keeps it. That is why residents facing an approved project need the tools in our guide to fighting a proposed data center, and sometimes a lawsuit, rather than a pause.
- It does not shut existing facilities. Noise, water, and air problems from an operating campus are addressed through enforcement and nuisance claims, not moratoriums. See our claim centers.
- Permanent bans are different. Harford County, San Marcos, Monterey Park, Marshall and Cass counties, and 32 New Jersey municipalities have removed data centers from their codes entirely. Those are the measures most likely to be sued.
The strategic use of a pause is to write a real ordinance while it runs: setbacks, noise limits in decibels at the property line, water reporting, generator and turbine rules, and a public process that names the project. Communities that use the time produce durable rules. Communities that do not are back where they started when the clock runs out.
How to get a moratorium where you live
Most of the pauses on this page began with residents. The path is usually the same:
- Find out what is already in motion. Check your county and city agendas for pending rezonings, special use permits, and annexation agreements. A pause adopted after an approval does not reach it.
- Bring the numbers. The counts on this page, the 40 states, the 94 pauses in 2026, and the specific votes in comparable jurisdictions, are what persuade a hesitant council that a pause is normal, not radical.
- Ask for a defined term and a work plan. The pauses surviving legal challenge are tied to a planning purpose: study impacts, draft an ordinance, adopt it, lift the pause.
- Consider the petition route carefully. Citizen initiatives forced the question in Edgerton and Augusta Township. Get every factual premise right; the Edgerton petition is being attacked precisely on its facts.
- Expect the industry to respond. Draft narrowly, cite authority, and involve the county attorney early.
If a project near you is already past the point a pause can reach, the fight moves to the approval record and the courthouse. Our lawsuit tracker covers every major case, and our free case review connects you with an independent attorney in our network who handles data center cases in your state, at no cost and with no obligation.
Frequently asked questions
How many states have data center moratoriums?
As of August 26, 2026, 40 states have at least one active local data center ban or moratorium, according to the Programs.com national tracker. Only Alaska, Hawaii, West Virginia, and Wyoming have no restrictions at any level. New York is the only state with a statewide moratorium, imposed by Executive Order 62 on July 14, 2026.
Which state has the most data center moratoriums?
Michigan, with 63 local moratoriums and bans as of August 26, 2026, followed by Ohio with 53, Georgia with 47, and North Carolina with 40. Together those four states account for 43 percent of all local pauses in the country. New Jersey has the most permanent municipal bans, 32.
Is there a statewide ban on data centers anywhere?
New York has the only statewide pause: Governor Hochul's Executive Order 62, signed July 14, 2026, halts state environmental permits for new hyperscale data centers for up to one year while the state develops standards. Several other states have executive orders addressing power costs and incentives, and moratorium bills are pending in Michigan, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, and Virginia.
What does a data center moratorium actually do?
It pauses new data center applications, permits, or construction for a stated period, usually six to eighteen months, often above a size threshold. It does not undo approvals already granted, does not close facilities already operating, and expires. Its purpose is to give a community time to write rules on noise, water, setbacks, and process.
Can a data center moratorium be overturned in court?
Yes, and several are being challenged. Hill County, Texas rescinded its moratorium within weeks after a lawsuit; developers are litigating pauses and bans in Lordstown, Ohio (at the Ohio Supreme Court), Smithfield, Rhode Island, Nashville, Tennessee, Chester County, South Carolina, and DeKalb County, Georgia. Challenges typically argue the pause exceeds local authority, is preempted by state law, or lacks a planning purpose.
Did Indianapolis ban data centers?
Indianapolis adopted a temporary moratorium. On August 10, 2026 the City-County Council voted 23 to 1 to bar new data centers in Marion County through no later than December 31, 2027, and the Metropolitan Development Commission approved it 6 to 0. Three previously approved projects are exempt. The pause gives the city time to study campus size, height, sound, and environmental impacts.
Article sources
Our editorial standards require primary sources: government publications, regulator data, company filings, and established industry research.
- 1.Programs.com: Data center moratoriums by state, tracker and statistics (as of August 26, 2026)
- 2.WFYI: Nearly a third of Indiana counties have moved to restrict data centers (July 6, 2026)
- 3.Mirror Indy: Indianapolis councilors approve data center moratorium (August 2026)
- 4.FOX59: Metropolitan Development Commission unanimously approves data center moratorium in Indy
- 5.WMAR: Harford County Council unanimously votes to ban data centers in all zoning districts (June 2026)
- 6.Harford County, Maryland: County Executive Cassilly signs historic legislation banning data centers (June 10, 2026)
- 7.Frederick News-Post: Harford County bans data centers permanently, but the law might not hold up
- 8.Maryland Matters: Counties scramble to respond to data centers, setting moratoriums, a ban (August 10, 2026)
- 9.Governor Kathy Hochul: First statewide moratorium on new hyperscale data centers (Executive Order 62, July 14, 2026)
- 10.Axios: N.Y. Gov. Kathy Hochul signs data center moratorium executive order (July 14, 2026)
- 11.KCTV5: Edgerton calls citizen petition void and invalid, files suit to block data center ban (August 14, 2026)
Related reading
- How to Fight a Proposed Data Center Before It Breaks Ground
Approval fights are the most successful category of data center litigation. Here is the playbook: reading the rezoning file, spotting notice and open meetings defects, organizing neighbors, referendums and recalls, moratoriums, and the short appeal clocks that decide everything.
- Data Center Lawsuits in 2026, by the Numbers: Who Is Suing, Over What, and What It Has Cost So Far
A report from the SueDataCenters.org tracker as of September 2, 2026: 25 cases and disputes, 14 filed this year, 16 in active litigation, 13 over land use and process, 6 over noise, 4 over water. Five class actions, the one-mile radius that keeps appearing, the decibel numbers in the complaints, Amazon's $20.5 million settlement, and why there is still almost no ruling on the merits.
- Can You Sue a Data Center? What Neighbors Can Actually Do in 2026
Yes, neighbors are suing data centers and winning real concessions: noise class actions, well water claims, voided rezonings, and Clean Air Act suits. Here is who has a case, the six legal theories that work, and what to do first.
- Data Center Lawsuit Deadlines: The Clocks That Kill Good Cases
Every data center claim runs on a clock: statutes of limitations commonly in the two to six year range, zoning appeal windows as short as 30 days, and the Clean Air Act's 60 day notice. What each deadline means in plain English, why continuing harm does not save late cases, and the act-now checklist.
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