Utilities Use Water Moratoria Against Data Centers

Local water authorities can impose temporary bans or moratoria on water and sewer hookups to delay or block hyperscale data centers, especially when facilities raise environmental, security, or land‑use concerns. Such actions shift siting fights from planning boards to utilities and can stall projects even when other approvals are in place. — If utilities increasingly use moratoria, they become decisive gatekeepers for where national‑scale compute and military‑linked data centers locate, with implications for energy, security, and regional development.