Aidni CEO Urges AI Data Center Developers to Combat Opposition

Karishma Mandal, CEO of Aidni, is calling on AI data center developers to address a growing perception problem to avoid project delays and financial risks. In the second quarter of 2026, local opposition blocked or delayed 45 data center projects with a combined value of $68 billion, primarily due to concerns regarding environmental impacts and increasing household electricity costs.

Mandal suggests the industry counter this pushback by utilizing industry-to-industry comparisons, such as noting that U.S. data centers use approximately half the water of U.S. golf courses. She also recommends the implementation of closed-loop cooling systems to reduce environmental footprints.

To address power delivery bottlenecks that can leave new plants waiting over five years for grid connections, Mandal advocates for Bring Your Own Generation strategies. This approach has received regulatory support from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which ordered PJM Interconnection to establish new transmission services specifically for data centers that co-locate their own power generation.