Data Centers: Daily Notes | July 20, 2026
New Mexico regulators rejected a proposed 17-mile natural gas pipeline; Michigan lawmakers could codify parts of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s proposed data center responsibility pledge; Sunbury voters will decide in November whether to adopt a 25-megawatt data center cap. READ MORE.
At A Glance 🔽
- New Mexico regulators rejected a proposed 17-mile natural gas pipeline that would supply Oracle’s 2.5-gigawatt Project Jupiter data center campus.
- Michigan lawmakers could codify parts of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s proposed data center responsibility pledge, including requirements for developers to cover their own energy costs, provide financial assurances, and protect water and the environment.
- Sunbury, Ohio voters will decide in November whether to adopt a 25-megawatt data center cap that could block a planned $2 billion Amazon campus and give residents direct control over future hyperscale development.
- Boulder City, Nevada is appealing the federal approval of a data center on public land and seeking a construction stay, arguing that the project was approved without meaningful city consultation and could set a troubling precedent for future federal land developments.
- Franklin County, Virginia is reportedly considering a 50- to 100-megawatt AI data center from Crusoe at the county-owned Summit View Business Park, although the potential Project Flash development has not been publicly confirmed.
- Hall County, Texas is set to host a potential $10 billion QTS-Lancium hyperscale data center campus that would self-fund its energy infrastructure, use dedicated solar and battery power, and rely on closed-loop cooling and nonmunicipal water sources.
- Mercer County, Kentucky is facing a growing dispute over a proposed data center as Burgin pursues annexation of more than 1,000 acres.
- Sunbury, Ohio will put a proposed 25-megawatt data center cap before voters in November, potentially blocking a planned $2 billion Amazon campus amid concerns over energy and water use, noise, land consumption, and public resources.
- El Segundo, California saw a developer withdraw plans for a large data center after intense community opposition over its projected electricity demand and potential impacts on local resources.
- Alamance County, North Carolina is considering a temporary moratorium on data center development as officials weigh concerns over water, air, and energy resources.
New Mexico
New Mexico regulators rejected a proposed 17-mile natural gas pipeline that would have supplied Oracle’s 2.5-gigawatt Project Jupiter data center campus, creating another major regulatory setback for the massive AI development.
The Green Chile Project was designed to deliver up to 400 million cubic feet of natural gas per day to power fuel cells at the 1,400-acre campus, but state officials cited concerns over large-scale water use, increased carbon dioxide emissions, and limited state revenue generation in rejecting the application.
The decision follows an earlier denial in March and could force the pipeline to be rerouted through state land, requiring new agreements with private landowners and potentially delaying the project. Oracle has said Project Jupiter remains on schedule, although the company had sought an expedited federal review to bring the pipeline online by August 15 and warned that missing the window could significantly increase costs. The campus is planned to host four data center buildings for Oracle’s AI infrastructure partnership with OpenAI, with the broader project expected to involve up to $165 billion in investment.
Michigan
Michigan House Speaker Matt Hall said lawmakers could codify parts of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s proposed data center responsibility pledge, including requirements aimed at making developers cover their own energy costs and protect water and the environment.
Envisionwise Website Service / LinkedUpRadio
Michigan Public Whitmer’s proposal calls for data centers to provide more financial assurances upfront for their substantial utility demands and commit to community benefits, while Hall said he expects lawmakers to take up some of those provisions when they return from their summer break.
Whitmer wants data center companies to pledge they'll be responsible, seeks more rules
The proposed measures reflect similar ideas from both Democrats and Republicans, including preventing residents from absorbing additional energy costs tied to data center development and protecting the state’s water resources. Critics continue to call for a pause on new data center approvals while regulations are developed, but state leaders have so far resisted a broader moratorium.
Sunbury, Ohio
Sunbury City Council unanimously certified a citizen-led charter amendment at its July 15 meeting, sending a measure to the November 3 ballot that would cap data center peak load at 25 megawatts, effectively blocking hyperscale facilities within city limits.
Organizers gathered 450 signatures, well above the 174 needed to qualify, with Mayor Joe St. John confirming 351 were verified as Sunbury residents. The measure follows months of dispute over a planned $2 billion Amazon Data Service campus in the city's new technology park; the city previously enacted a moratorium on data center development through Jan. 31, but some residents worry the project could still move forward once that pause expires. Organizers worked with Conserve Ohio, a grassroots group that had been pushing a statewide constitutional amendment against most data centers before shifting that campaign to the 2027 primary ballot; a similar petition effort is underway in nearby Pataskala.
If approved, the amendment would write the 25-megawatt cap directly into the city's charter rather than leaving the decision to future councils, giving Sunbury voters direct control over whether hyperscale data centers can locate there. Ohio already has 224 data centers statewide, including 139 in central Ohio, and the vote is expected to be closely watched by other fast-growing communities in the state weighing similar restrictions.
Boulder City, Nevada
Federal land managers approved a data center on public land near Boulder City in late June by amending Townsite Solar 2's existing 2023 solar farm permit, bypassing new public review by determining the prior environmental document was adequate for the data center too, a move former national BLM policy chief Mike Ford called unprecedented.
Alan Halaly
BLM Las Vegas Field Office Manager Bruce Sillitoe wrote in the final decision that the earlier public involvement and interagency review were sufficient for the new project, an approach officials said complies with President Trump's 2025 executive order directing agencies to speed up data center permitting on federal land. Internal emails show BLM's Nevada office drafted a news release about the approval that was ultimately not posted online. The developer's most recent disclosed BLM rental payment, from 2023, was $1,207.67, far below the roughly $2.3 million in annual revenue the city says it would have received under a city lease and taxes.
Franklin County, Virginia
Crusoe is reportedly considering a 50 to 100 megawatt AI data center at Franklin County’s 150-acre Summit View Business Park, with the potential development referred to as “Project Flash.”
Crusoe
Discussions between Crusoe and Franklin County officials have reportedly been ongoing since November, although neither party has publicly confirmed the project. The proposed site is part of the county-owned Summit View Business Park, a 540-acre development along U.S. 220 with existing power and natural gas infrastructure.
Franklin County residents demanding answers on “Project Flash”, data centers
Franklin County officials said they are pursuing economic development opportunities that support employment, strengthen the tax base, and fund public services while protecting quality of life, and added that project information will be shared when legally permitted. Any development requiring public hearings would proceed under Virginia law, leaving the project subject to further review if Crusoe formally advances the proposal.
Strisker Document Analysis
Finding the right compliance documents shouldn’t feel like searching for a needle in a haystack - Strisker’s Documents Analysis is built to simplify your life, offering instant access to hundreds of thousands of documents from thousands of cities across the world.
Hall County, Texas
QTS Data Centers and Lancium are planning a hyperscale data center campus in Hall County, Texas, that could include up to 11 buildings across 465 acres and attract more than $10 billion in capital investment.
ETDatacenters
The proposed campus would be developed at Lancium’s Clean Campus near Turkey, with QTS designing, constructing, and operating the data center buildings while Lancium provides the site’s electrical and civil infrastructure.
admin
The companies plan to fully fund the energy infrastructure and have Lancium provide power through a combination of solar resources and battery storage. QTS also plans to use closed-loop cooling and source water from on-site wells or approved external suppliers rather than Turkey’s municipal water system. The project could generate up to 7,000 construction jobs and approximately 350 permanent positions. The companies’ plan to self-fund infrastructure and provide dedicated power aligns with growing pressure in Texas for data center developers to take responsibility for the energy and infrastructure demands of their projects.
Mercer County, Kentucky
A proposed data center is fueling a growing dispute in Mercer County, Kentucky, where Burgin is seeking to annex more than 1,000 acres for potential development while Harrodsburg and local residents raise concerns about water capacity, public input, and the pace of the process.
Burgin’s City Council voted 3-2 to advance an ordinance that would roughly double the size of the city, but a subsequent special-called meeting was canceled after city officials said the first meeting was not legally accurate because the ordinance had not received a first reading. Harrodsburg officials have separately objected to the process and said Burgin failed to provide the required notice for annexing property where Harrodsburg’s municipal water line is located.
The city, which supplies water to Burgin, is concerned about whether it has enough water to serve a potential hyperscale data center and says Burgin has not discussed the issue with Harrodsburg before moving forward with annexation. Mercer County is also considering a temporary moratorium on data center construction and plans to hold a public hearing on draft rules for siting and regulating data centers.
El Segundo, California
A developer has withdrawn plans for a large data center in El Segundo following intense community opposition over the project’s projected electricity demand and potential impacts on local resources.
Eight Form announced it would pull its application at the conclusion of a contentious three-hour El Segundo Planning Commission hearing on July 9. The proposal called for demolishing the 15-year-old Hyatt Place hotel at 750 N. Nash Street and replacing it with a 160-foot-tall, five-story data center and a dedicated electrical substation.
The project drew immediate opposition from South Bay residential groups, with an environmental study showing the proposed facility would dramatically increase electricity consumption compared with the existing hotel.
The withdrawal comes amid growing opposition to new AI data center projects across Los Angeles County, where residents have raised concerns about the electricity, water, noise, and pollution associated with large facilities. At the same time, demand for data center capacity remains strong in El Segundo, where defense and aerospace companies have cited the need for nearby facilities and several data centers already operate in the area.
Alamance County, North Carolina
Alamance and Yadkin counties are the latest Piedmont Triad communities to consider temporary pauses on data center development as local officials weigh concerns about the projects’ potential impact on water, air, and energy resources.
Alamance, Yadkin County leaders consider data center moratoriums as Triad debate grows
Alamance County commissioners are expected to discuss a potential moratorium during their July 20 meeting, while Yadkin County commissioners are expected to set a public hearing on a temporary pause.
The discussions follow moratoriums already approved or under consideration in several nearby counties, including a 60-day pause in Surry County, a one-year moratorium in Davie County, and a proposed six-month freeze in Davidson County. Supporters say temporary pauses would give local governments time to study data center impacts and develop appropriate rules, while opponents warn moratoriums could discourage investment and prevent new projects from moving forward. The debate comes as residents across the region continue to raise concerns about water supplies, air pollution, and electricity costs, while supporters point to potential tax revenue and job creation from data center development.
📱 Social Buzz
BlackRock is looking to sell $12 b of bonds to finance a Texas data center campus just as the Texas PUC approves Ride Through Rules For Data Centers.
— Octans Capital (@OctansCapital) July 20, 2026
The grid is bracing for the digital rush. As heavy infrastructure demands collide with power supply limits, regulators are… pic.twitter.com/SZMah5suFp
Documents provided ahead of the San Angelo City Council's upcoming regular meeting show the final results of a petition to recall Mayor Tom Thompson launched due to concerns regarding the proposed Skybox-Emergent data center project.
— KSAN News (@ksannews) July 20, 2026
Details: https://t.co/hU03sYGM2a pic.twitter.com/pHAvKuB4Ey
📢 Join me tonight at 6 p.m. for a virtual town hall as we discuss the recently enacted 2026-27 state budget & the latest developments on data center legislation.
— Senator Katie Muth (@SenatorMuth) July 20, 2026
💻 Register to participate on Zoom: https://t.co/IoMB86bQ4c. You can also submit a question in advance. pic.twitter.com/WutUwX7oCB
Where are the dangers for rare pathogens in data centers?
— Katrina (@verummultum) July 20, 2026
The connection is that the explosion of data center construction — 700+ facilities under construction across 38 states — is creating thousands of new industrial water systems that are potential breeding grounds for…
Stay Updated with STRisker!
STRisker offers tools and features to keep you updated with the Short Term Rental and Data Centers movement across the world.
👍 We’d love your feedback.
Which stories hit? Which ones missed?
We're exploring a new branch of topics centered around Data Centers and want to make it even more useful for you.
✉️ Just reply directly to this email. We read and respond to every message!
-Will McClure
🙋 P.S.
Know someone else who should be reading Daily Notes? Feel free to forward this along. We’re opening a few more spots.