AI data center developers are pursuing large rural sites, bringing questions about power supplies, water rights and land use to county governments. Projects in Utah and Louisiana illustrate the expansion as research shows that most facilities in the broader U.S. data center development pipeline are in rural areas.
Pew Research Center’s April 13, 2026, analysis found that 67% of planned U.S. data centers were in rural areas, while 87% of existing facilities were in urban areas. Its planned category combined more than 1,500 facilities under construction, planned or land banked, using Data Center Map records current as of Feb. 19. The figures cover data centers generally, rather than AI facilities alone, and do not establish whether sites are outside municipal boundaries.
SemiAnalysis identifies larger parcels, room for power equipment and fewer municipal approval requirements as attractions of unincorporated county land as developers try to move large projects through planning. Approval requirements depend on local law, however, and county authorities, utilities and state agencies can still have substantial roles.
Utah project faces further review
On May 4, 2026, the Box Elder County Commission consented to the Military Installation Development Authority creating the Stratos project area in western Box Elder County, Utah. The county described the location as unzoned and said the development could include a data center. The authorization did not complete the project’s oversight process.
The county described approximately 40,000 acres across three sites, with one intended for power generation and a data center. It said its agreement included a 55-decibel noise limit for the data center and power plant, provisions for agricultural leasebacks, and a requirement that the developer fund necessary public-service infrastructure.
“Today’s decision isn’t the end of the oversight process, but just the beginning,” said Box Elder County Commissioner Tyler Vincent.
A water-rights change application tied to the project’s planned natural-gas power plant was withdrawn after more than 3,700 protests were filed. The application sought to change water use from agricultural to industrial purposes. A consultant for applicant Bar H Ranch said in an email to the Utah Division of Water Rights that the ranch intended to resubmit with additional supporting information.
Louisiana campus brings power infrastructure plans
In its December 2024 announcement, Meta described its Richland Parish, Louisiana, campus as a planned 4 million-square-foot facility supporting its AI development. The company said the completed campus would represent more than $10 billion in investment and announced more than $200 million in local infrastructure improvements.
Entergy Louisiana said the Louisiana Public Service Commission had approved an agreement allowing three new combined-cycle power plants and transmission projects tied to the campus. The utility projected that two plants in Richland Parish would begin operating in late 2028, with a third at its Waterford site in St. Charles Parish expected by the end of 2029.
Farmland offers and neighborhood opposition
In Kentucky, Delsia Bare said her family had rejected a $26 million offer for part of its farmland outside Maysville. The family owns about 1,200 acres, and the proposed purchase concerned roughly half the property. Bare and her mother, Ida Huddleston, said they did not want the land converted into a data center. The prospective buyer was not identified.
An Ipsos survey commissioned by Redfin and conducted among 4,000 U.S. residents in November 2025 found that 47% opposed construction of an AI data center in their neighborhood, while 38% supported it. Redfin reported a credibility interval of plus or minus 1.9 percentage points. The survey provides a snapshot of opinion, rather than evidence that opposition increased over time.
