Google recently courted the township of Franklin, Ind., so that it could construct a giant campus to house the computer hardware that powers its internet business. But the company needed to rezone more than 450 acres in the Indianapolis suburb, and residents weren’t having it.

Many were concerned the facility would consume huge amounts of water and electricity while delivering few local benefits. When a lawyer representing Google confirmed at a September public meeting that the company was pulling its data center proposal, cheers erupted from sign-waving residents.