By Laila Kearney

HOUSTON, March 24 (Reuters) – Gaining the approval of local communities has become paramount to building data centers in the U.S., Microsoft President Brad Smith said on Tuesday, as towns across the country increasingly protest the developments.

The rapid proliferation of Big Tech data centers is driving up the country’s electricity demand and power bills, and drawing scrutiny from states and local communities.

“You have to win over the local community and sustain their trust if you are going to build a (data center),” Smith said at the CERAWeek conference in Houston. “Obviously what you are seeing in the United States is now a concern about data centers.”

Opposition from towns and counties in the Midwest and Northeast in recent months has led to the cancellation of data center developments over concerns of rising power prices, water impact and pollution from accompanying power infrastructure.

(Reporting by Laila Kearney in Houston, Editing by Franklin Paul and Nia Williams)