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Last Update: 08/01/2026 at 11:01 AM EST

Data Centers Topics

The unifying issues connecting many articles

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Texas Data Center Regulation

Texas data center growth is now driving utility planning, tax policy, and permitting changes, with state and local officials trying to shift grid costs away from residential ratepayers while adding water, siting, and incentive limits.

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Kentucky Data Centers Face Local Pushback

Kentucky is weighing large data center proposals that promise investment and jobs but raise concerns about electricity costs, land conversion, water use, emissions, transparency, and limited statewide siting rules. Several counties have responded with moratoriums, zoning restrictions, or project opposition, making data centers a consequential local political issue. At the same time, TeraWulf has secured a 20-year Anthropic lease for a planned 401-megawatt AI campus in Hawesville, showing that Kentucky is also attracting major committed AI capacity.

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Kentucky Counties Pause Data Center Plans

Kentucky communities are taking sharply different approaches to hyperscale data centers. Louisville and Mason County are considering or advancing major projects, while Lexington, Nelson County, and London have pursued moratoriums or tighter controls amid concerns about electricity and water use, land impacts, noise, transparency, and possible utility costs for ratepayers. The divide is shaping local zoning, public hearings, and proposed statewide oversight before additional facilities are approved.

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Texas Data Centers Face Water Strain

Texas is preparing for continued data center expansion tied to artificial intelligence and cloud computing while facing limited information about facilities’ water and power requirements. Estimates indicate that data center water demand could rise substantially, but the range remains uncertain because cooling systems, electricity sources, and project plans vary. Lawmakers, local governments, researchers, and residents are debating disclosure rules, conservation measures, infrastructure costs, and who should control project approvals.

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Salem Data Center Permitting Debate

A proposed Verrus data center campus in southeast Salem is moving into city review, with officials weighing zoning, infrastructure, and community benefits against public concerns about water, electricity, noise, and environmental impact. The project is still unapproved but already has a defined public hearing process and local political attention.

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AI Data Center Buildout Strains Power

AI-driven data center expansion is accelerating across the US and Asia, but growth is increasingly limited by power access, permitting, labor, cooling, fiber supply, and grid upgrades. New projects, forecasts, and contracts all point to a buildout that is now shaped as much by physical infrastructure as by compute demand.

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Nvidia-Backed Ohio AI Data Center

OpenAI is reportedly negotiating to lease a proposed 10-gigawatt data center in southern Ohio, with SoftBank developing the site and Nvidia considering up to $250 billion in financial guarantees plus additional chip financing. The project would be built in phases on federally owned land near Piketon, with initial capacity targeted for 2028 and electricity access tied to U.S. government control and Japanese funding. The proposed structure illustrates how large AI facilities are increasingly being assembled through partnerships among model developers, chipmakers, investors, utilities, and governments, while leaving substantial questions about debt exposure, approvals, power availability, and commercial demand.

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Montana PSC Draws Heavy Interest in Data Center Tariff Case

NorthWestern Energy is seeking Montana Public Service Commission approval for a large-load tariff that would set electricity terms for prospective data centers, including multiyear commitments and additional protections for customers requiring more than 50 megawatts. Consumer, environmental, industrial, state, and local-government groups are seeking a role in the proceeding and pressing for stronger cost allocation, disclosure, and regulatory review so existing customers are not left paying for dedicated generation, transmission, or other infrastructure. The debate is unfolding alongside scrutiny of NorthWestern’s proposed merger with Black Hills and the utility’s expanding data-center pipeline.

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Oracle’s AI Buildout Faces Constraints

Oracle is rapidly expanding AI data center capacity, including a planned $16 billion campus in Saline Township, Michigan, to support customers such as OpenAI and other hyperscalers. The buildout is increasing capital spending, borrowing, and exposure to construction delays, power and water limits, permitting disputes, supply shortages, and uncertain customer demand. The projects could add substantial capacity and employment, but their financial and operational returns remain dependent on timely delivery, affordable energy, and sustained AI infrastructure demand.

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Local Governments Add Data Center Review

Cities and counties in Virginia, North Carolina, and Michigan are rewriting or preparing zoning rules to give local officials more control over future data center proposals. The changes commonly move projects from by-right development toward conditional or special-use review, public hearings, and clearer siting standards. Officials are balancing potential jobs, tax revenue, and digital infrastructure benefits against concerns about noise, water consumption, electricity demand, environmental effects, and neighborhood impacts.

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AI Campuses Race Against Power Constraints

Large AI-focused data center projects are moving toward hundreds of megawatts and, in some cases, gigawatt-scale power requirements. Developers and investors are committing capital earlier through joint ventures, private debt, land facilities, GPU financing, and other structured arrangements, while utility interconnection delays, permitting, labor shortages, and community resistance slow delivery. The central question is whether power and construction capacity can arrive on schedule and whether AI demand will justify the scale of current investment.

View Summary and 36 Articles

Texas Data Center Regulation

Texas data center growth is now driving utility planning, tax policy, and permitting changes, with state and local officials trying to shift grid costs away from residential ratepayers while adding water, siting, and incentive limits.

View Summary and 75 Articles

Surging

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Texas Data Center Regulation

Texas data center demand has become a major driver of new grid planning, especially in ERCOT and Oncor territory.

7D

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Kentucky Data Centers Face Local Pushback

Oldham County imposed a moratorium and the developer abandoned a proposed $6 billion data center after sustained local opposition.

7D

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Kentucky Counties Pause Data Center Plans

Lexington approved a moratorium after Dartpoint purchased a former Lexmark property and is considering broader zoning restrictions.

7D

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Texas Data Centers Face Water Strain

Researchers estimate Texas data center water use could rise from less than 1% of state use today to 3%–9% by 2040, though the range is uncertain.

7D

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Emerging

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New York Pauses Large Data Centers

New York became the first U.S. state reported to impose a statewide pause on large new data center approvals or environmental reviews.

7D

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Project Kilby Plans Texas Power Plant

Project Kilby would supply dedicated natural-gas power to Microsoft’s data center campus in Pecos, Texas, under a 20-year agreement.

7D

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Wyoming Weighs Data Center Growth

Cheyenne officials describe a pipeline spanning operating, construction, and planned facilities, while broader estimates include dozens of projects at varying stages.

7D

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Communities Push Back on Data Centers

Hill County approved a one-year pause on data center and power plant construction in unincorporated areas amid plans for as many as eight facilities.

7D

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Declining

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