---
title: "Scottish Parliament backs temporary moratorium on hyperscale data centers"
url: https://www.parallelquant.com/posts/scottish-parliament-backs-temporary-moratorium-on-hyperscale-data-center-513f56
source_name: "Data Center Dynamics"
source_url: https://www.datacenterdynamics.com/en/news/scotland-data-center-moratorium/
published: 2026-09-16T17:43:00.000Z
topics: ["policy"]
publisher: "Parallel Quant"
---

# Scottish Parliament backs temporary moratorium on hyperscale data centers

*2026-09-16 · Source: [Data Center Dynamics](https://www.datacenterdynamics.com/en/news/scotland-data-center-moratorium/)*

Scotland's parliament voted to back a de facto, temporary moratorium on new hyperscale data center developments. No new projects will be approved until updated planning guidance is published.

**Why it matters:** This is one of the first formal legislative moratoriums, rather than just local pushback or polling, on AI-driven data center construction, following similar community resistance in Philadelphia and elsewhere. It could become a template other governments use to slow data center buildout while grid and planning capacity catch up.

**Topics:** policy

---
Read the original: https://www.datacenterdynamics.com/en/news/scotland-data-center-moratorium/
Canonical: https://www.parallelquant.com/posts/scottish-parliament-backs-temporary-moratorium-on-hyperscale-data-center-513f56
Published by Parallel Quant — https://www.parallelquant.com