Data Centers: Weekly Briefing // May 25-28, 2026

📋 This Week's Decisions

Just Passed

State Action

• Pennsylvania (PUC): The Public Utility Commission approved a model "large load" tariff built around a "but for" test. If a substation or power line wouldn't be built but for a data center, the developer covers the cost. The tariff covers new users of 50 megawatts or more. It isn't a mandate, but the PUC controls utility rate cases, which gives it leverage.
• Ohio: Gov. Mike DeWine abruptly paused the state's data center sales tax exemption, directing the Ohio Tax Credit Authority to stop accepting new requests after a final June 1 meeting. The exemption cost Ohio $1.6 billion in 2025, eleven times the Department of Taxation's original $136 million estimate, with another $166.8 million lost to localities. The pause holds while the General Assembly's Select Committee on Data Centers takes testimony.
• Pennsylvania (Governor): Gov. Josh Shapiro unveiled the Governor's Responsible Infrastructure Development (GRID) Standards, a voluntary framework tying state incentives and fast-tracked permitting to conditions on developers. Participating developers would pay for their own incremental power, secure clean energy commitments, build solar-ready facilities over 100,000 square feet, and publicly disclose electricity, water, wastewater, and air emissions data. Qualifying projects must commit to $250 million in new investment, 200 prevailing-wage construction jobs, and 50 permanent jobs at 125% of Pennsylvania's average wage.

Moratoriums Approved

• Washington Township, MI: The Board of Trustees passed a six-month moratorium on new data center applications, running six months or until the township amends its zoning ordinance. The vote came days after Prologis withdrew its 312-acre technical campus proposal under resident pressure. The updated ordinance is expected later this summer.
• Wright County, MN: County commissioners unanimously approved a one-year moratorium on new data center applications in townships under county zoning, following a packed public hearing in Buffalo on May 19.
• Otoe County, NE: Commissioners approved a moratorium pausing new data centers for up to a year as opposition mounts in Nebraska City. Residents have posted "Stop the Data Center" signs across town, and farmers turned out to the commissioners' meeting at the county courthouse.
• Harlingen, TX: The City Commission approved a 120-day moratorium to research the industry and update ordinances before any project arrives. No data center is currently seeking to locate in Harlingen, but the pause lets the city assess impacts on water and power.
• Morris, CT: The town approved a two-year moratorium on data centers and battery storage to protect farmland and rural character. Morris has no data center proposal pending, but two recently approved solar projects totaling 43.5 acres prompted officials to act. The Planning and Zoning Commission approved the pause after a public hearing that drew no attendees.
• Bloomington, IL: The City Council imposed a six-month moratorium on data centers larger than 5 megawatts. The move follows neighboring Normal's own moratorium running through Nov. 30. Officials in both Twin Cities say there are no official plans for large-scale data centers locally.
• Pulaski County, AR: The Quorum Court passed a 12-month moratorium on new data centers Tuesday, pausing future projects with a last-minute amendment grandfathering two existing proposals.
• Iron County, UT: The Planning Commission enacted a 180-day moratorium on new AI data center applications, capping the pause at the maximum allowed under Utah law. The proposed Pronghorn (Antelope) data center, a 640-acre project northwest of Cedar City, is grandfathered and goes to a vote June 4. Pronghorn would require a one-time fill of 19 acre-feet of water plus 3 to 5 acre-feet to maintain, and water rights in Basin 71 are already fully appropriated.

Projects Denied/Withdrawn

• Hanover County, VA: The Board of Supervisors voted to reject Tract's Mountain Road Technology Park, killing a 900-megawatt, 430-acre data center campus in western Hanover. The Denver-based developer piled on proffers ahead of the vote, including $15 million for a pump station and water storage tank and $6 million for land conservation. The site would have used an average of 600,000 gallons of water daily, peaking at 2 million.
• Upper Macungie Township, PA: The Zoning Hearing Board voted to deny Air Products' application for a 2.6 million-square-foot data center campus on the company's former 194-acre headquarters site. The board first denied a third request for a continuance, then ruled on the merits before a standing-room-only crowd.

💬 Catch Up on Discussions

• Box Elder County, UT: Hundreds rallied at the Utah Capitol to demand a halt to the Stratos Project, a 40,000-acre campus planned along the north shore of the Great Salt Lake. The protest followed county commissioners' decision to let the project proceed, a vote at which officials cut off public comment after the crowd grew unruly. Brigham City resident Shannon Barton formed the Box Elder Accountability Referendum to put the project to a public vote.
• Augusta, GA: City officials are moving to freeze new data center applications until Augusta adopts a new zoning ordinance. The proposed pause comes as developer QTS advances plans for a facility in the city.
• Mason County, WV: Severe weekend flooding along University Lane was tied to construction at a nearby data center, and the developer has agreed to cover residents' cleanup and repair costs. The site is part of the Monarch Compute Campus by Fidelis New Energy and 8090 Industries. The developer said a storm dropped about a month's worth of rain in 48 hours, overwhelming temporary erosion controls and breaching a section of silt fencing.
• Roselle Park, NJ: The Borough Council moved to ban data centers boroughwide while demanding transparency about a project already under construction next door in Kenilworth. Mayor Joseph Signorello Jr.'s ordinance prohibiting data centers in all zoning districts passed on first reading. The council also approved a resolution seeking inter-municipal coordination on the Kenilworth project, which borders the borough's Fifth Ward.
• DeSoto County, FL: Developers are pushing one of the country's largest data center complexes in rural DeSoto County. In March, commissioners rezoned 34 acres at a decommissioned power plant for DCIP Group's first data center. The company has since sought to expand the footprint past 825 acres, and its CEO says the final project could reach 1,300 acres demanding 4,000 megawatts, far above the 750 megawatts drawn by the largest US data centers today.
• Indiana: To power a wave of hyperscale data centers, some Indiana utilities are leaning hard on fossil fuels. NIPSCO's generation arm plans two new natural gas plants and a large battery to serve Amazon's 2.4-gigawatt project in Hobart. AES Indiana is pairing solar and storage for a Google site. Watchdog group Citizens Action Coalition warns much of this planning stays buried in regulatory filings.
• Socorro, NM: A community meeting over a data center proposed on New Mexico Tech land erupted into shouting on May 19, as residents booed the university president and developer and pressed them to drop the project. The developer pitched it as a greener facility pulling water from the air. Socorro County commissioners are expected to vote June 9 on a one-year moratorium on data centers in unincorporated areas.
• Inyokern, CA: A statewide construction union is urging California regulators to approve a contested data center near Inyokern. The project, proposed by R&L Capital, would draw 12 to 16 million gallons of water a year from the Indian Wells Valley groundwater basin, the near-sole water source for both Inyokern and Ridgecrest. Roughly 100 letters have urged the state to reject the plan, against about 10 in support.
• Spalding County, GA: Commissioners weighed a fourth data center on May 28, weeks after the planning board unanimously recommended denying it. The 75 South campus by an affiliate of developer Hillwood would place seven two-story buildings totaling 2.24 million square feet on about 292 acres. State filings estimate $6 billion at buildout and $86 million in annual local tax revenue but only 200 permanent jobs.
• Goochland County, VA: Rural Virginians turned out for an open house to fight Valley Link, a $1 billion, 765-kilovolt transmission line proposed largely to carry power to Northern Virginia's data centers. The disputed segment would run more than 100 miles from a Campbell County substation through the Piedmont. Opposition spans at least nine counties; Louisa County alone has set aside $250,000 to challenge it.
• East Fishkill, NY: A proposed 1-gigawatt data center has put East Fishkill on edge, and the Town Board set a June 25 public hearing on extending its development moratorium to cover data centers. The project by New Jersey's Treetop Companies would use power equivalent to roughly 800,000 homes. Town Supervisor Nicholas D'Alessandro says only 50 megawatts are available locally against the 1,000 needed.
• West Rockhill, PA: Supervisors advanced a slate of amendments tightening the township's new data center ordinance. Changes raise the minimum lot size from 25 to 35 acres, widen setbacks, cap building height at 35 feet, require closed-loop cooling, and ban groundwater and surface water extraction. A final hearing is set for July 15.
• Shalersville, OH: The developer will host a public open house on May 29 to field questions about a contested data center. The "Open House and Community Q&A" runs from noon to 3 p.m. at the Turnpike Commerce Center, a 1-million-square-foot building on State Route 44.
• Morgan County, GA: Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez held up jars of brown well water from Morgan County residents during a House Energy and Commerce Committee hearing, pressing the EPA over contamination neighbors link to a nearby Meta data center.
• Charlotte, NC: Residents packed the City Council chamber for a hearing on a proposed 150-day pause on new data centers and data storage facilities. Most speakers backed the moratorium. The council is expected to vote on June 8.
• Tennessee Valley (TVA): The Tennessee Valley Authority is moving to renegotiate electricity rates with the 153 local power companies it supplies, citing surging demand from data centers and other energy-intensive industries. Proposals include more rate stability for big manufacturers, a new "marginal pricing" option, and possible new customer classes and extra capacity charges for very large users such as AI and data centers. TVA expects to bring its proposed actions to the board in August.
• Lowndes County, AL: More than 1,000 residents signed a petition opposing the proposed $1.5 billion Project Red Clay data center. Turnout to Tuesday night's county commission meeting was so large the chairman ordered the doors closed before the meeting, citing fire code. Opponents worry about water, farmland, and the site's proximity to Gardner Farm, a campsite on the historic Selma-to-Montgomery Voting Rights March route.
• Putnam County, WV: Residents urged the County Commission to adopt a moratorium during two hours of public comment in Winfield, citing noise and water pollution fears. Speakers pointed to House Bill 2014, a new state law that strips counties of the ability to regulate or enforce rules such as noise ordinances against data centers. Google purchased about 1,700 acres in the Buffalo area in March for a potential site. The commission noted that even without HB 2014, it would have no power to stop a data center from locating there.
• Botetourt County, VA: Dozens of residents packed a Board of Supervisors meeting to protest a proposed Google data center, even though the project wasn't on the agenda. Protesters raised concerns about water, especially aquifer drawdown affecting private wells. Google has already given the county millions, including funding toward a new 9-1-1 center, which some protesters argued could create pressure to support the project.
• Clinton, IA: The City Council agreed to vote June 9 on a 120-day moratorium on data center development, which would give the city time to draft a zoning ordinance. The decision followed more than three hours of public comment about a data center proposed by QTS in the early planning stages, north of U.S. Highway 30 and west of Mill Creek Parkway.
• Nye County, NV: Water District board members made clear they would not support a data center in Pahrump. One member said he didn't see a way to move forward in good faith with a project that could use 1,000 acre-feet of water. Any decision would ultimately rest with the Nye County Commissioners.
• Dowagiac, MI: Two homeowners filed a federal class-action lawsuit against the owners of a hyperscale data center in Dowagiac, alleging constant excessive noise has hurt their quality of life and property values. The complaint names Alliance Cloud Services, which has operated the facility since 2022 and recently announced plans to expand. Plaintiffs allege the company failed to install adequate soundproofing and have requested a jury trial.
• St. Joseph, MO: The City Council held a public hearing on annexing land at 6321 S.E. Pickett Road requested by Capstone Technology Campus, LLC, which some residents suspect could be used for a data center. City Manager Mike Schumacher said the only matter before the council was the annexation itself. Capstone Technology Campus LLC remains largely unidentified, and no official proposal has been filed.
• Walton County, FL: Commissioners instructed staff to draft an outright ban on AI data centers, acting before any project has been proposed and before new state AI laws take effect in July. Commissioner Danny Glidewell said early action could give the county a chance to be grandfathered in if the state preempts local rules. First reading is expected June 9.
• Coachella, CA: Hundreds of residents protested the proposed Coachella Valley Technology Campus outside Wednesday's city council meeting as the council weighed hiring outside legal counsel to review the project. The campus would be developed through a municipal utility agreement between the city and Stronghold Power Systems and could grow to 450 acres with six data centers. The council is considering third-party counsel at a cost between $10,000 and $25,000.
• Wrightstown, WI: The Village Board voted to put a non-binding referendum on the August 11 primary ballot asking whether the village should authorize utility infrastructure for potential large-scale data center projects. Real estate developer Cloverleaf Infrastructure has confirmed it tried unsuccessfully to buy land in the area. Residents have started a petition for a moratorium.
• Faribault, MN: A proposed Faribault data center remains on hold as the Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy's appeal of the city's environmental review heads toward a court decision expected in the coming weeks. MCEA's appeal contends the study "vastly underreported the facility's impact on climate change and Minnesota's electricity grid" and is pushing for a full Environmental Impact Statement.

📅 Upcoming Meetings

• Shalersville, OH: Developer open house on proposed data center, May 29.
• Ohio: Final Tax Credit Authority meeting before tax exemption pause takes hold, June 1.
• Lowndes County, AL: Project Red Clay developer community open house, June 3.
• Iron County, UT: Pronghorn (Antelope) data center vote, June 4.
• Charlotte, NC: City Council vote on 150-day moratorium, June 8.
• Socorro County, NM: Vote on one-year data center moratorium, June 9.
• Clinton, IA: Vote on 120-day data center moratorium, June 9.
• Walton County, FL: First reading of outright AI data center ban, June 9.
• East Fishkill, NY: Public hearing on moratorium extension covering data centers, June 25.
• West Rockhill, PA: Final hearing on tightened data center ordinance amendments, July 15.
• Wrightstown, WI: Non-binding data center referendum on primary ballot, August 11.
• Tennessee Valley (TVA): Board action expected on proposed rate changes for large loads, August.
• Faribault, MN: Court ruling expected on MCEA's environmental review appeal, coming weeks.

👀 In case you missed it...

This week in the Data Center space.

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Data Centers: Daily Notes | May 28, 2026

Major rejections in Hanover County and Upper Macungie; Govs. DeWine and Shapiro roll out statewide moves on tax breaks and project standards.

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Data Centers: Daily Notes | May 27, 2026

Bloomington, IL enacts a six-month data center moratorium, Charlotte weighs a 150-day pause, and more than 1,000 residents petition against a $1.5 billion project in Lowndes County, Alabama.

STRisker - Short-term rental and data center regulationsDane Artisola

Data Centers: Daily Notes | May 26, 2026

Pennsylvania regulators move to keep data center costs off ratepayers, Indiana utilities lean into gas and coal, and fights over moratoriums and mega-projects spread from Montana to New York.

STRisker - Short-term rental and data center regulationsDane Artisola

Data Centers: Daily Notes | May 25, 2026

Moratoriums sweep new communities in Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, Texas, and Connecticut, hundreds rally against Utah’s 40,000-acre Stratos Project, and data center construction floods a West Virginia neighborhood.

STRisker - Short-term rental and data center regulationsDane Artisola

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