📋 Just Passed

State Legislation

• Michigan: A bipartisan group of lawmakers introduced House Bills 5594-5596, calling for a statewide pause on all new data center approvals through April 2027. The three-bill package would halt state and local approvals, stop new facilities from beginning operations, and direct regulators to hold off on data center reviews. It carries 10 co-sponsors but faces a steep path, with the governor's office signaling a veto.
• South Carolina: H-5286 would prohibit state, county, and city officials from granting final approval on any new data center project until 2028, covering rezoning, special use permits, building permits, and economic incentives. Referred to Ways and Means.
• Pennsylvania: The House Energy Committee voted advance HB 2150 (annual energy and water consumption reporting) and HB 2151 (state model zoning ordinance for municipalities).

Moratoriums Approved

• Birmingham, AL: City Council approved a 180-day moratorium on hyperscale data centers using more than 20 MW. Two projects already in the pipeline are exempt: the DC Blox expansion and Nebius's planned AI Factory on Lakeshore Parkway.
• Athens-Clarke County, GA: Commissioners unanimously extended the data center moratorium to June 5, originally set to expire March 6. Proposed text amendments requiring closed-loop cooling and special use permits were held for further revision. Next work session March 10.
• Ypsilanti, MI: City Council approved both a 60-day emergency ordinance and a 365-day resolution placing a moratorium on data centers. No data centers are currently proposed in the city.
• Urbana, OH: Council voted to approve a 12-month moratorium on new data centers over 10,000 square feet, reversing a prior rejection. A petition opposing development has gathered nearly 8,000 signatures.

Regulations Passed

• Linn County, IA: Adopted one of the most comprehensive local data center zoning ordinances in the country, creating a new zoning district with requirements including a water study, water-use agreement before construction, 1,000-foot residential setbacks, light-pollution standards, a waste-management plan, and an applicant-led public meeting requirement.
• Mason County, KY: Fiscal Court unanimously adopted Ordinance 26-01, setting 750-foot residential setbacks, 500-foot setbacks for sensitive uses, a 50 dB daytime noise limit, and construction noise restrictions.
• Rice Township, PA: Supervisors approved a zoning ordinance permitting data centers only as conditional use in the I-1 industrial district, with 1,000-foot residential setbacks, 50-foot height limits, and a 250,000 sq ft cap.
• Lawton, OK: City Council approved a two-tier zoning approach. Facilities under 2 MW are permitted in I-1 zones with written clearance from the local electrical provider. Facilities over 2 MW require public hearings and a binding site plan in I-4 zones.

Projects Approved

• Middlesex Township, PA: Supervisors approved Phase 1-A land development for the $15B Pennsylvania Digital 1 complex, covering one PPL Electric substation and three step-down buildings on the 693-acre site. Work could begin by late spring with a target of going live in summer 2027.
• Lansing, MI: Planning Commission voted to approve conditional rezoning for Deep Green's proposed 24 MW data center, reversing a December rejection. The rezoning heads to City Council, with a possible final vote as early as April 6.

Projects Denied or Delayed

• Henrico County, VA: The Board of Zoning Appeals unanimously denied Centra Logistics' vested-rights claim to build a data center on Darbytown Road. The developer can appeal to circuit court.
• Brookings, SD: City Council rejected a $644,280 sales-tax rebate for Sequitor Edge's proposed $41M colocation facility at the SDSU Research Park.
• Louisville, KY: A proposed moratorium on data center rezonings died in committee after running out its procedural clock. The only active project, a 153-acre, 400 MW facility near Rubbertown, sits on land already zoned industrial.
• Indianapolis, IN: The Metropolitan Development Commission approved a 30-day delay in the zoning decision for Metrobloks's proposed 154,000 sq ft data center in Martindale-Brightwood. The decision is now scheduled for April 1.

💬 Catch Up on Discussions

• Palm Beach County, FL: Four hundred residents packed a chaotic town hall on Project Tango, a proposed data center near the Arden neighborhood. The developer announced a scaled-back proposal reducing data storage to 1.032M sq ft in five buildings. Commission hearing April 23.
• Prince William County, VA: A three-judge Court of Appeals panel heard challenges to the Digital Gateway data center project, a proposed corridor of over 22 million square feet across 2,100+ acres near Gainesville. The cases turn on whether the county provided proper public notice before a 27-hour hearing in December 2023. A ruling is expected within two months.
• New York: More than 100 community, environmental, and faith organizations sent a letter to Gov. Hochul calling for passage of statewide moratorium bill S.9144/A.10141. The coalition cited a 43% increase in residential electricity rates between 2020 and 2025.
• Wisconsin: The Public Service Commission forced Alliant Energy to refile a heavily redacted data center rate application. The revised version identifies the customer as Degas LLC (an alias Meta used earlier in development) and shows Alliant would supply up to 220 MW under a 10-year agreement. Public comment extended to March 9.
• Weld County, CO: Commissioners are looking to define and regulate data centers through a proposed ordinance limiting them to industrial or agricultural zones and requiring site plan or special review. Facilities covered would include those with cooling systems and backup power under 50 MW. Vote set for April 6.
• Independence, MO: Opponents filed a referendum notice with 185 signatures one day after council approved the Nebius project. Organizer Rachel Gonzalez needs 3,700 verified signatures in 30 days to place the issue on the ballot.
• New Castle County, DE: Council held a second hearing on proposed data center regulations with a final vote tentatively set for March 10. The amended ordinance requires closed-loop cooling, 1,000-foot residential setbacks (reducible to 500 feet with a noise study), and compliance with existing noise standards. A "pending ordinance doctrine" was removed, exempting projects already in the pipeline including Starwood's proposed 6M sq ft facility.
• Benton, LA: The Bossier Parish Police Jury unanimously voted to schedule the first public hearing on Amazon's 1,089-acre STACK Infrastructure site for March 18. Previous votes were cast without public disclosure that they involved a data center, due to nondisclosure agreements signed by parish officials.
• Inver Grove Heights, MN: A data center application was filed for a 14-acre site purchased by Fortress Investment Group, a subsidiary of Abu Dhabi's Mubadala sovereign wealth fund. Current zoning allows a data center as permitted use. Dakota County Commissioner Joe Atkins plans to bring a countywide review to the County Board on April 7.
• Monterey Park, CA: City council to consider three measures on March 4: a ballot measure to ban data centers citywide, a moratorium extension, and a resolution supporting state-level regulation. Advocacy group No Data Center MPK says the ballot measure contains loopholes.
• Anchorage, AK: The Assembly spent nearly two hours examining how to regulate data centers before any formal proposals arrive. Proposed Ordinance AO 2026-27 would define data centers as a distinct land use, restrict them to conditional approval in industrial zones, and require detailed impact reviews with 200-foot residential setbacks.
• Delta County, MI: The Planning Commission proposed a resolution to suspend data center and cryptocurrency mining projects for 12 months. No known plans exist for the county. A decision is expected in April.
• Norwalk, IA: City Council held a public hearing on a development agreement with a land developer preparing property on the city's west side. Officials stressed the vote does not authorize a data center and that any future facility would require its own separate process.
• Bossier Parish, LA: An acoustical study found Amazon's planned data center is expected to meet parish noise regulations under full cooling load and biweekly generator testing, modeling 40-45 dB for cooling and 45-50 dB for generators. Low-frequency and tonal compliance won't be reviewed until equipment is finalized.

📅 Watch out for

• Monterey Park, CA: Council vote on data center ban ballot measure, moratorium extension, and state-level resolution, March 4.
• Athens-Clarke County, GA: Work session on data center text amendments, March 10.
• New Castle County, DE: Final vote on data center regulations, March 10.
• Sedgwick County, KS: Public listening town hall, March 12.
• Spartanburg County, SC: Third reading on TigerDC tax incentive, March 16.
• Urbana, OH: City Council next meeting, March 17.
• Benton, LA: First public hearing and final plat vote on Amazon/STACK 1,089-acre data center site, March 18.
• Sangamon County, IL: County board vote on CyrusOne project, March 23.
• Sunbury, OH: Rescheduled public hearing on Amazon data center, March 23.
• Portage, MI: Public hearing on data center and energy storage moratorium, March 24.
• Sedgwick County, KS: Planning department town hall, March 31.
• Indianapolis, IN: Metrobloks zoning decision, April 1.
• Weld County, CO: Commission vote on data center ordinance, April 6.
• Lansing, MI: Possible city council final vote on Deep Green rezoning, April 6.
• Dakota County, MN: County Board review of data center impacts, April 7.
• West Rockhill, PA: Public hearing on data center zoning amendment, April 15.
• Sedgwick County, KS: 90-day moratorium expires, April 17.
• Palm Beach County, FL: Commission hearing on Project Tango, April 23.
• Upper Macungie, PA: Continued zoning hearing, May 27.

📊 Industry Signals

Data center opposition is now shaping elections. A North Carolina congressional primary saw the issue become a central campaign issue, with progressive challenger Nida Allam opposing a proposed 190-acre data center near Apex and supporting a federal moratorium. Jobs and Democracy, a Super PAC whose sole disclosed donor is Anthropic, spent about $1.6M backing incumbent Valerie Foushee since February 21.

George Washington University sold its 122-acre Virginia Science and Technology Campus to Amazon Data Services for $427 million, adding to Amazon's $52B investment across three Virginia counties. The property's assessed value was $107.3M before the sale, reflecting how data center demand has driven Loudoun County commercial land values up 55% over the past year to an average of $3.76M per acre.

American Tower secured zoning for two Edge data center developments through its "construction-ready" program: an 83.5-acre site in Oklahoma City (16,000 sq ft, 4 MW) and a 2.3-acre site in North Largo, FL (4 MW). The company says it can bring capacity online in 12-18 months and has identified more than 1,000 plots it owns or holds long-term leases on for potential data center development.

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