Indiana mayor 'regrets' saying data center critics came from 'sh---y houses' as Americans push back on the hidden costs of AI

When one woman responds that he’s seeing the signs at “working-class houses,” Furgeson replies, “Most of them are rentals so…” The woman pushes back, saying, “It doesn’t matter if they’re rentals or not, they’re still human beings.”

Furgeson later says the properties are “very, very unkempt.”

The remarks quickly drew criticism online and from local residents. In a statement distributed to media outlets a few days later, the mayor said he regretted his comments.

“The mayor regrets that his choice of words may have caused offense,” it said. “His comments were intended to reference property maintenance and not the character, value, or importance of any resident, homeowner, or renter in our community.”

A growing fight over data centers

The proposed data center project in Shelbyville was already drawing growing pushback from residents before Furgeson’s comments. The plan would take about 429 acres of farmland and turn it into an 11-building complex — a major shift for a largely rural area.

It comes as Indiana sees a surge in data center development, with tech companies drawn to available land, existing infrastructure, and local incentives designed to attract investment.

Locally, though, the reaction has been intense. More than 2,000 people signed a petition calling on city leaders to reject the project. Despite that, the city council moved it forward in April.

Residents have pointed to concerns like noise, heavier truck traffic, environmental strain, and the longer-term impact of carving up that much farmland. And it’s not just Shelbyville — similar tensions have popped up in places like Virginia, Texas, and Georgia, where communities are grappling with how quickly data centers are expanding.

Supporters argue the projects bring jobs and new tax revenue into towns that want growth. Others say those gains don’t always reach residents in a meaningful way, especially when weighed against what changes like this mean for the local landscape.

That underlying tension likely fed into the reaction to Furgeson’s comments, with his remarks about “sh—y houses” landing especially poorly in a community already divided over the data center proposal.

The hidden cost of the AI boom

What’s happening in Shelbyville is part of a bigger story playing out across the country, driven by the rapid rise of artificial intelligence and the massive infrastructure needed to keep it running.

AI doesn’t run on its own. Training and operating these systems takes massive amounts of computing power, and that means equally massive amounts of electricity to keep everything running and cool.

According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), electricity demand from data centers worldwide could more than double by 2030, largely because of AI.