Topics on Data Centers

Recent coverage follows rapid data center expansion through a water-and-cooling lens. The strongest signal is how operators, researchers, regulators, and local officials are testing closed-loop cooling, wastewater reuse, and heat recovery while debating water supply, permitting, and community impacts.

Local governments in Maryland, North Carolina, Texas, and elsewhere are moving to pause, restrict, or ban new data centers as residents and officials press for rules on power demand, water use, noise, and land use. The strongest signal is a wave of moratorium legislation paired with emerging legal disputes and a few large projects still advancing under existing approvals.

Cities and counties are increasingly pausing or restricting data center development while they rewrite zoning rules and review power, water, noise, and land-use impacts. New projects still move forward in some places, but approval timing is becoming more uncertain.

Large data center projects are moving through permitting, zoning, and utility review as local leaders try to balance investment claims against rising concerns over water use, power demand, noise, wetlands, and public transparency. Little Rock’s proposed rules and the Springdale project’s next approvals are the clearest current flashpoints.

New legislation would require federal reporting on data center water and energy use, reflecting rising concern over the resource demands of large AI facilities and the planning pressure they place on utilities, permitting, and local governments.

EU policymakers and lawmakers are moving toward stricter data-center energy disclosure and performance rules, while contesting secrecy provisions that limit visibility into facility-level power use as AI demand grows.

QTS is advancing major data center buildouts in Van Wert, Ohio, and Henrico County, Virginia, with multi-year construction timelines, large-scale acreage commitments, and substantial utility infrastructure requirements. The Van Wert project is framed around a $10 billion, 500-megawatt campus with phased opening targets through about 2032, while the Virginia expansion would add 17 buildings and significantly expand QTS’s existing White Oak footprint. Across both markets, the company emphasizes energy upgrades, utility coordination, and community-facing commitments such as workforce training and local benefit funds.

A Tampa-area developer has proposed Project Swan, a large data center complex near Old Tampa Highway and Wilkinson Road in Lakeland. The project is still in concept review, and city staff say it may not be allowed under current code, with annexation, zoning, and utility impacts still unresolved. Public concern has risen quickly as officials and residents seek basic details on water use, power demand, traffic, and operational purpose.