Methodology

What we track

Large data center projects in the United States, from the first public sign of a proposal through operation, including projects that are paused, cancelled or denied. We start with the projects drawing the most public attention and add more every week.

Sources, in order of trust

1. Government records: county and city agendas and minutes, zoning filings, state permits and agency pages, utility commission dockets, court records.
2. Utility and grid documents: interconnection and large-load filings.
3. Company statements: developer and tenant releases and filings, recorded as what the company says.
4. News reporting: local and trade outlets, used for events and confirmed against the above where possible.

Every fact and every timeline entry links to the source it came from. If we can’t find a published source for a value, we leave it out. We don’t estimate.

Statuses

Rumored

Land deals or reports of interest, but no formal application on file.

Proposed

A formal application, rezoning request or public announcement of a specific site.

Approved

Key local approvals granted; construction not yet under way.

Under construction

Site work or building construction has begun.

Operating

At least part of the campus is running.

Paused

On hold, for example by a moratorium, lawsuit or developer decision.

Cancelled

Withdrawn by the developer or ended by a court.

Denied

Rejected by the deciding body.

Units and conflicting figures

Capacity is recorded in megawatts (MW) as published. “Planned capacity” is the campus or utility figure at full build-out. “IT load” is the computing load, where published separately. Sources often disagree; when they do, we show each figure with its source rather than pick one. Headline totals use each project’s first recorded planned-capacity figure.

Locations

Map pins use the published site where available. Otherwise they sit at the town or county center, and the project page says so.

How records are kept current

Records are researched with AI assistance and checked against their sources. Power, water, incentive, zoning and lawsuit details carry a short verbatim excerpt from the source (“Source excerpt” on each project page), and each was independently re-checked against the source page before publication; anything that couldn’t be confirmed word-for-word was left out. Each record shows the date it was last verified, and the changelog lists every dated event. Automated checks block publication of any record with a missing source, invalid status or malformed date.

Corrections

Spot an error or a missing project? Email [email protected] with a link to a public source. We correct errors promptly.