Erin Brockovich launches community‑sourced U.S. data‑center map, says she isn't opposed to AI

Environmental activist Erin Brockovich has rolled out a community‑submitted website mapping U.S.

Erin Brockovich, the environmental activist best known for her legal fight against Pacific Gas & Electric and portrayed by Julia Roberts in the film about that case, has put live a public website that aggregates reports about data centers across the United States. Brockovich describes the site as a “work in progress” and positioned it as a community — facing archive rather than a completed dataset or commercial product.

The map on the new site is populated with data centers reported by members of surrounding communities. In a Substack post, Brockovich said she issued a call for reports in April and received nearly 4,000 submissions in the first month, making clear the project relies on crowd — sourced contributions rather than centralized filings or industry disclosures. From the submissions Brockovich highlighted one recurring theme: transparency. She wrote that the top concern among contributors — more frequent than noise, water usage, or rising utility bills — was the lack of transparent information about projects, developers and official approvals. The site presents those community accounts as primary evidence for the patterns it documents.

Brockovich also framed her effort narrowly: she stated she is not making a “blanket argument against data centers” or AI. Instead, she said the map documents specific procedural patterns of concern, including projects that are publicly announced only after permits are already secured, developers who do not return community calls, and local officials who signed nondisclosure agreements before neighbors knew a project was being considered.

For builders, planners and local officials, the initiative signals a rising risk of public scrutiny driven by community reporting. The site’s community — sourced records and the volume of submissions could intensify pressure on project communication practices, NDA use and permitting timelines, demanding clearer engagement with nearby residents even where formal filings exist.