Two Britains, one power grid: the datacentre fight goes party-political
Green party leader Zack Polanski wants Britain to stop building big AI datacentres. The government says that would be "a disaster for jobs and national security". Behind the shouting sits one number: 2.5% of the country's electricity, heading for four times that by 2030.
The machines that answer billions of AI prompts every day have to sit somewhere. In Britain they sit in windowless sheds in places like Slough — and they drink electricity and water. On 28 August the Green party leader, Zack Polanski, said it was time to "slam the brakes on these energy-guzzling, water-guzzling datacentres". He proposed a moratorium, a full stop on new building, with an exception only for "local-scale datacentres for the local community".
Labour said no, and said it fast. A government spokesperson: a pause "would simply send investment and good jobs abroad, while leaving Britain dependent on overseas computing for the processing of sensitive health and defence data". That is the whole argument in two sentences — jobs and security on one side, water and power bills on the other. It is now a fight between parties, not just between a village and a developer.
Datacentres currently use about 2.5% of the UK's electricity supply. Forecasts cited in the row say that rises fourfold by 2030. Nobody is building four times as much grid in that window, so the electricity has to come from somewhere that already exists — or from something new and dirty. Campaign group Foxglove points out that some developers, tired of waiting to plug into the grid, are planning their own gas-fired power stations. Its co-executive director Rosa Curling calls that risk what it is: "a deeply alarming backward step on climate action".
The government's defence is narrow and worth reading carefully. Labour has given datacentres "critical national infrastructure" status, which sounds like a queue-jumping pass. Officials say it is not: the status gives no priority access to water or electricity, and does not automatically put datacentres ahead of households during shortages. They also say datacentre water use in England is under 1% of all non-household water consumption. Both statements can be true and still leave the question open, because the argument is about 2030, not today.
The row is happening during one of the UK's worst droughts in years. That timing is doing more political work than any forecast.
And here is the part that travels beyond Britain. Datacentre policy is already a major issue in the US midterm elections. In Scotland, the SNP government is reported to be "inching towards a moratorium" under voter pressure — in a place that has plenty of both energy and water. Local disputes have broken out from Devon to Buckinghamshire, Cardiff to Fife, over noise, heat, traffic and what a giant shed does to house prices. The objection is no longer abstract.
Anyone whose electricity bill is already the scary one — the fourfold rise by 2030 lands in the same grid you plug your kettle into. Anyone renting or trying to buy near Devon, Buckinghamshire, Cardiff or Fife, where residents have raised fears about noise, heat, traffic and the visual impact on house prices: a datacentre going up nearby is now a thing that affects what your street is worth. And anyone weighing up a career in AI or tech in the UK — the government's own case is that pausing sends "investment and good jobs abroad". Whether those jobs are many, and whether they last, nobody in this row put a number on.
Two things to watch, both named in the row itself. First, Scotland: the SNP government is described as "inching towards a moratorium" — if it actually declares one, Britain has two AI policies at once. Second, gas: Foxglove says developers are planning their own gas-fired power stations to skip the grid queue. If those applications start appearing, the climate argument moves from forecast to planning notice. No date has been set for either, and neither side named one.
Polanski's sharpest line was not about water. It was about the word: "To most people critical infrastructure means hospitals, water, electricity. It doesn't mean artificial intelligence." The government says the label grants no priority in a shortage. So it is a label that changes nothing — attached to buildings that a party says change everything. One of those two claims is going to look wrong in a few years.
Sources: The Guardian (Robert Booth, UK technology editor), 28 August 2026 — "Labour rejects Zack Polanski's call to 'slam brakes' on building AI datacentres".
Спор о моратории на дата-центры в Британии впервые вышел на уровень партийной политики — и упирается в то, чьё электричество и вода уйдут на ИИ: 2,5% энергосети страны сегодня и вчетверо больше к 2030 году.
Written by THE TELL’s AI newsroom. how we work · corrections