Pro-energy group asks Congress to probe data center opposition funding

Power the Future, a pro-energy advocacy group, is calling on Congress to take a closer look at the opposition to data centers cropping up across the country.

In a letter to Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., and Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., the group asked lawmakers to open formal investigations into millions of dollars in funding that they say is incentivizing nonprofits and local groups to take an environmental stance against data centers.

According to them, this is a movement that tries to appear more popular than it actually is.

“We ask your committees to open a formal investigation into a coordinated, billionaire-funded and potentially foreign-backed political campaign designed to block the construction of data centers and AI infrastructure across the United States, which is among the most important economic and national security constructions of President Trump’s second term,” the letter read.

FOREIGN BILLIONAIRES DONATE $2.6 BILLION TO US ADVOCACY GROUPS TO INFLUENCE POLICY, WATCHDOG REPORT CLAIMS

House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., speaks to reporters after a closed-door deposition with Ghislaine Maxwell at the Capitol in Washington, DC, February 9, 2026. (J. Scott Applewhite/AP)

The letter highlights concerns that U.S. laws surrounding nonprofits, which shield donors from public disclosures, could allow wealthy ideologues to make hard-to-track donations.

The group highlighted environmentally conscious nonprofits like the Sierra Club, Food and Water Watch, Earthjustice, Goods Jobs First, the Piedmont Environmental Council, the Southern Environmental Law Center, MediaJustice and the Athena Coalition that have received — and spent millions — to oppose their expansion.

The New Venture Fund, Sierra Club Foundation and Sixteen Thirty Fund have collectively received more than $13 million from pro-environmental donors, according to grant reports.

It is unclear whether these donations were made for the express purpose of opposing the construction of data centers.

Even so, the groups say data centers cost more resources than they are worth, to the detriment of the environmental well-being of local communities.

Power the Future disagrees.

RAPID RISE IN AI IMPOSES NEW EMERGENCY ON CONGRESS TO UNLEASH AMERICAN ENERGY

The Douglas County Google Data Center complex is seen in Lithia Springs, Georgia on March 6, 2026. (Mike Stewart/AP)

Beyond generating tax revenue for local communities and creating job opportunities, Power the Future argued that data centers allow the United States to remain competitive with foreign powers.

“Interior Secretary Doug Burgum called opposition to this construction a ‘capitulation’ to China,” Power the Future wrote in its report on the data center.

“The computational infrastructure that trains AI models, processes intelligence data, and powers the next generation of U.S. economic and military advantage must be built somewhere.”

Although the group’s founder, Daniel Turner, believes some of the opposition may well come from legitimate local concerns about unwanted development in rural areas, he remains skeptical about the money being pumped into this project.

‘BAD IDEA’: CONSERVATIVES WARN RED STATE DATA CENTER BILL WOULD DERAIL TRUMP’S VISION OF ‘GOLDEN AGE’ OF ENERGY

Racks of servers with colorful wires are seen in a data center as AI expansion strains the power grid, prompting tech companies to finance their own energy needs. (Sameer Al-Doumy/AFP via Getty Images)

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

“There is certainly a lot to discuss among communities around data centers. But is this a paid operation by radical green groups who view the data center ban as another gas stove ban or a leaf blower ban?” Turner said in a statement to Fox News Digital.

According to their research, Power the Future found 188 local opposition groups in 24 states that oppose data center expansion.