Data Centers
Comprehensive tracker of 3,448 U.S. data center facilities, power consumption, expansion pipelines, and local moratoriums across all 50 states.
This map plots over 3,400+ data center facilities across the continental U.S. — hyperscale campuses, colocation hubs, AI factories, and associated infrastructure — compiled from operator disclosures, public filings, permit records, and open infrastructure databases.
Virginia leads the nation with 498 tracked data center facilities — home to "Data Center Alley" in Loudoun County, the largest concentration of data centers in the world. Texas follows with 407, then California (231), Georgia (232), and Illinois (220) round out the top five. Delaware, Rhode Island, and Alaska have the fewest.
Do Data Centers Raise Electricity Rates?
Data center growth is reshaping electricity markets across the country. See how rates compare in deregulated vs. regulated states on our energy deregulation map.
In Virginia, data centers now consume more than 1 in 4 kilowatt-hours of the state's electricity — an estimated 32 TWh out of 128 TWh total in 2023, per an EPRINC analysis. (At Dominion Energy specifically, data centers accounted for 21% of sales as of late 2022.) That kind of demand can strain the grid — and when utilities build new infrastructure to keep up, everyone's rates can go up.
Counterpoint: Dominion Energy has stated that data centers "do not currently have an outside influence on customer energy bills." Virginia's Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission (JLARC) agreed in a December 2024 study that data centers are currently paying their fair share — but warned residential customers could begin bearing some costs if changes aren't made. Dominion has since created a dedicated rate class (GS-5) for data center customers over 25 MW.
In power-rich areas like West Texas and Indiana, the opposite happens. More large customers sharing fixed grid costs can lower rates for residents. Amazon's Indiana project alone is expected to save local households $1 billion over 15 years, with NIPSCO confirming Amazon will cover all infrastructure build-out costs without passing expenses to existing customers.
U.S. Data Center Rankings & Facilities
Explore America's 50 largest individual campuses or compare facility counts and annual power demand across all 50 states.
| # | Facility | Operator | Location | Capacity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | PORTS Technology Campus | New Day Data Centers (DOE / SoftBank) | Piketon, OH | 10 GW | Under Construction |
| 2 | Creekstone Energy Delta Gigasite | Creekstone Energy | Delta, UT | 10 GW | Under Construction |
| 3 | Stratos AI Data Center Campus | O'Leary Digital | Lucin, UT | 9 GW | Planned |
| 4 | PORTS-Pike Technology Campus | OpenAI / SB Energy / NVIDIA | Jasper, OH | 8 GW | Planned |
| 5 | Lea County Data Center | New Era Energy & Digital | Lovington, NM | 7 GW | Planned |
| 6 | Fermi Phase 1 | Fermi America | Panhandle, TX | 6 GW | Under Construction |
| 7 | Data City, Texas | Energy Abundance Development Corp. | Laredo, TX | 5 GW | Planned |
| 8 | Homer City Energy Campus | Homer City Redevelopment | Homer City, PA | 4.5 GW | Under Construction |
| 9 | PowerHouse Caldwell County | PowerHouse Data Centers | Uhland, TX | 4 GW | Planned |
| 10 | Joule Energy and Data Center Campus | Joule Capital Partners | Holden, UT | 4 GW | Under Construction |
| 11 | Project Merlin (Helios II) | Galaxy Digital | McGregor, TX | 3.5 GW | Planned |
| 12 | OpenAI Project Camelia | OpenAI | Springfield, GA | 3.2 GW | Planned |
| 13 | Stak Energy North Slope | Stak Energy | North Slope, AK | 3 GW | Planned |
| 14 | Stratos / Wonder Valley | O'Leary Digital | Snowville, UT | 3 GW | Planned |
| 15 | North Creek Technology Campus | Amazon Web Services | Mineral, VA | 3 GW | Planned |
| 16 | Project Tembo | Cheyenne, WY | 2.7 GW | Under Construction | |
| 17 | North Creek Tech Campus | Amazon Web Services | Louisa, VA | 2.7 GW | Planned |
| 18 | AWS Hobart Campus | Amazon Web Services | Hobart, IN | 2.4 GW | Under Construction |
| 19 | Tract Hanover Technology Park | Tract | Ashland, VA | 2.4 GW | Planned |
| 20 | Digital Realty Astra Enterprise Park | Digital Realty | De Soto, KS | 2 GW | Planned |
| 21 | Meta Hyperion | Meta | Delhi, LA | 2 GW | Under Construction |
| 22 | xAI Southaven | xAI | Southaven, MS | 2 GW | Operational |
| 23 | Tract TRIC Master-Planned Park | Tract | Sparks, NV | 2 GW | Planned |
| 24 | Comanche Circle | Sailfish Digital Ventures | Tolar, TX | 2 GW | Planned |
| 25 | IREN Sweetwater Campus | IREN (Iris Energy) | Sweetwater, TX | 2 GW | Under Construction |
| 26 | Microsoft Pecos Data Center Campus | Microsoft | Pecos, TX | 2 GW | Planned |
| 27 | Poolside Project Horizon AI Campus | Poolside AI | Fort Stockton, TX | 2 GW | Planned |
| 28 | Tract Caldwell Valley Technology Park | Tract | Uhland, TX | 2 GW | Planned |
| 29 | Fundamental Data Ridgeline | Fundamental Data | Hambleton, WV | 2 GW | Planned |
| 30 | Monarch Compute Campus | Nscale | Point Pleasant, WV | 2 GW | Planned |
| 31 | Project Bunkhouse | Taurus / Digital Realty | Stilesboro, GA | 1.83 GW | Planned |
| 32 | Buckeye Tech Corridor | Tract | Buckeye, AZ | 1.8 GW | Planned |
| 33 | Joliet Technology Center | Hillwood / PowerHouse | Joliet, IL | 1.8 GW | Planned |
| 34 | Project Cardinal | Pioneer Development | Yorkville, IL | 1.8 GW | Planned |
| 35 | Paducah GDP AI Campus | Brookfield / NextEra | Kevil, KY | 1.8 GW | Planned |
| 36 | PowerHouse Grand Prairie Campus | PowerHouse Data Centers | Grand Prairie, TX | 1.8 GW | Under Construction |
| 37 | Stark Hallam Hyperscale | Stark Power | Hallam, NE | 1.7 GW | Planned |
| 38 | Galaxy Helios Data Center Campus | Galaxy Digital | Afton, TX | 1.63 GW | Under Construction |
| 39 | Tract Silver Springs Park | Tract | Silver Springs, NV | 1.6 GW | Planned |
| 40 | IREN SE Oklahoma Campus | IREN | Clayton, OK | 1.6 GW | Planned |
| 41 | IREN Woods County Campus | IREN (Iris Energy) | Alva, OK | 1.6 GW | Planned |
| 42 | Wildcat Ridge AI Campus | Cornell Realty Management | Archbald, PA | 1.6 GW | Planned |
| 43 | Hassayampa Ranch Data Center | Arizona Land Consulting | Tonopah, AZ | 1.5 GW | Planned |
| 44 | Microsoft Fairwater Atlanta | Microsoft | Fayetteville, GA | 1.5 GW | Operational |
| 45 | AWS Project Galaxy | Amazon Web Services | Sidney, OH | 1.5 GW | Under Construction |
| 46 | Stargate Lordstown Campus | OpenAI / SoftBank / Oracle | Lordstown, OH | 1.5 GW | Under Construction |
| 47 | Cloverleaf Project Open Sky | Cloverleaf Infrastructure | Piedmont, OK | 1.5 GW | Planned |
| 48 | Core Scientific Pecos AI Campus | Core Scientific | Pecos, TX | 1.5 GW | Under Construction |
| 49 | Crusoe Victoria AI Factory | Crusoe | Victoria, TX | 1.5 GW | Planned |
| 50 | AWS Wilderness Crossing | Amazon Web Services | Montford, VA | 1.5 GW | Planned |
Largest Data Center Operators
The 10 largest data center operators in the U.S. by tracked facility count, including operational, under construction, and planned sites.
Facility counts from operator disclosures, public filings, and permit records (Oct 2026).
How Fast Is Data Center Power Demand Growing?
U.S. data center electricity demand has tripled in the past decade — and is projected to double again by 2028. This has direct consequences for residential electricity rates and commercial electricity rates nationwide.
Common Claims About Data Centers
Data centers are at the center of heated debates about water, energy, and community impact. Some claims are legitimate concerns; others are misleading statistics repeated uncritically for years. Here's what the evidence actually says.
“Every ChatGPT query drinks a bottle of water.”
This claim is a misreading of a UC Riverside study by Shaolei Ren, which found that 20–50 ChatGPT queries use about 500 ml — not one query. That works out to roughly 10–25 ml per query (a few teaspoons). OpenAI CEO Sam Altman put the figure even lower at ~0.32 ml per query (~1/15th of a teaspoon), though he didn't cite a source. The real number depends on the data center's cooling method and location, but "a bottle per query" was never what the research said.
“Data center water numbers are wildly inflated by including water they never actually touch.”
Many widely-cited figures combine "direct" on-site cooling water with "indirect" water consumed upstream by power plants generating the data center's electricity. According to HyperFRAME Research, roughly 80% of a data center's total water footprint comes from the power grid, not the facility itself. That's real water, but attributing it to "the data center" is like blaming your house for the water used at the power plant that keeps your lights on. Direct U.S. data center water use is approximately 17 billion gallons per year — about 0.3% of public water supply (AEI).
“Data centers are drying out small towns and draining local water supplies.”
Nationally, data center water use is a rounding error — but national averages mask local strain. In The Dalles, Oregon, Google's water use grew 316% while the town's population grew 12%. That's a real impact. Drought, aging infrastructure, and agriculture all contribute — but two-thirds of new hyperscale campuses built since 2022 are in high water-stress counties, and 1 in 5 servers sit in water-stressed watersheds. The concern isn't about the national picture; it's about where the water is being drawn.
“Big Tech isn't doing anything about their water consumption.”
Google replenished 4.5 billion gallons of water in 2024. Microsoft has invested $34 million+ in 76 replenishment projects globally, cut potable water use 97% at its Quincy, WA facility, and is now building zero-water-evaporation data centers using closed-loop liquid cooling. Industry-wide, water usage effectiveness has improved 39% since 2021. Modern facilities using closed-loop cooling operate at less than 0.2 L/kWh, compared to 20 L/kWh for traditional power generation. The trajectory is clearly toward water-neutral operations.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many data centers are in the United States?
The United States has over 3,400 tracked data center facilities as of 2026, compiled from public records, operator disclosures, and permit filings. Virginia leads with 498 facilities, followed by Texas (407), California (231), Georgia (232), and Illinois (220). Over 1,000+ additional data centers are under construction or in active planning across 49 states.
How much electricity do U.S. data centers consume?
U.S. data centers consumed approximately 192 TWh of electricity in 2023, about 4.7% of total U.S. electricity — enough to power 18 million homes. This has tripled in the past decade and is projected to reach 345–490 TWh by 2028–2030, driven primarily by AI workloads.
How many data centers are being built right now?
Over 1,000 data centers are under construction or in active planning across 49 U.S. states, representing tens of gigawatts of new capacity. Texas leads with 198 projects in the pipeline, followed by Virginia (174), Georgia (93), California (58), and Ohio (50).
How much power does a data center use?
A typical enterprise data center uses 10–50 MW, while hyperscale facilities can exceed 100–500 MW. For perspective, 1 MW can power about 750–1,000 homes. The largest planned facilities — like the Stargate project in Abilene, Texas — will use over 1 GW, enough to power a small city.
What is driving the current data center building boom?
Artificial Intelligence is the primary driver. Training and running large AI models requires enormous computing power. Cloud providers are racing to build capacity — Amazon, Google, Microsoft, and Meta have collectively announced over $300 billion in U.S. data center investments for 2024–2028. The AI boom has shifted site selection from proximity-to-users to proximity-to-power.
Do data centers affect electricity rates?
It depends on location. In power-rich areas like West Texas and Indiana, data centers can lower rates by sharing fixed grid costs — Amazon's Indiana project alone is expected to save local households $1 billion over 15 years. In constrained markets like Northern Virginia, rapid growth can strain the grid and push rates higher. Data centers now consume over 25% of Virginia's total electricity.
