Aligned Data Centers

Recent news

• May 18, 2026

  NextEra Will Buy Dominion Energy in Largest-Ever Electric Utility Deal

  NextEra Energy has announced it will buy Dominion Energy in an all-stock deal valued at about $67 billion.

  • Deal terms and governance: NextEra shareholders will own 74.5% of the combined company and Dominion investors 25.5%; the combined company will trade under NextEra on the NYSE as NEE, own 110 GW of generation capacity, and have a board consisting of 10 NextEra and 4 Dominion directors. The announcement was made on May 18; John Ketchum will serve as chairman and CEO and Robert Blue as president and CEO of regulated utilities.
  • Financial and operational details: The transaction value is about $67 billion; NextEra reported an enterprise value of about $303 billion (about one-third debt) and Dominion an enterprise value of about $111 billion (about $50 billion in debt). The companies highlighted commitments including bill credits, continued investments in generation, reliability and storm resiliency, and retention of dual headquarters in Juno Beach, Florida and Richmond, Virginia.
• May 17, 2026

  Reports Say NextEra in Talks to Acquire Dominion Energy

  NextEra Energy is reportedly in talks to acquire Dominion Energy.

  • Deal details and timing: The article reports a potential mostly-stock transaction valuing Dominion at about $66 billion, with analysts saying NextEra would offer about 0.8 of its own shares for each Dominion share plus some cash; the deal could be announced as soon as May 18. Analysts also estimate NextEra shareholders would own about three-quarters of the combined company.
  • Background and financial context: The report includes company valuations and finances: NextEra enterprise value ≈ $303 billion (≈1/3 debt); Dominion enterprise value ≈ $111 billion (≈$50 billion debt); NextEra market cap ≈ $195 billion, Southern Co. ≈ $104 billion; the article references related transactions and infrastructure investments (e.g., Duane Arnold restart investment > $800 million, Crossroads-Hobbs-Roadrunner transmission $291.6 million).
• May 15, 2026

  Battery Storage Gains Ground as Data Centers Seek Diesel Alternatives

  Caterpillar has reached an agreement to supply American Intelligence & Power Corporation (AIP) with Cat G3516 fast-response natural gas generator sets for AIP’s Monarch Compute Campus near Point Pleasant, West Virginia.

  • Main announcement: Caterpillar will supply Cat G3516 fast-response natural gas generator sets to AIP’s Monarch Compute Campus, with deliveries scheduled this year and a campus power target of 2 GW in 2027; BESS will augment the system to handle extreme AI transients.
  • Context and additional details:MarketsandMarkets projects the global BESS market to grow from $50.81 billion in 2025 to $105.96 billion by 2030; BloombergNEF reports 112 GW of annual energy storage additions in 2025. The article notes Oracle adding BESS at multiple data centers, Aligned Data Centers funded and gifted a BESS facility to a local utility (data center access up to four hours on weekdays during outages), and Baker Hughes supplying 16 NovaLT gas turbines to Frontier Infrastructure combined with BESS and synchronous condensers. Synchronous condenser and power-electronics suppliers named include Siemens Energy, Eaton, and GE Vernova, with hybrid examples such as the Shannonbridge project in Ireland (70 MW BESS with a synchronous condenser).
• May 12, 2026

  Thermal management becoming inseparable from data center operations: Trane executive

  Trane Technologies has introduced thermal management reference designs for gigawatt-scale AI data centers in collaboration with NVIDIA.

  • Main announcement: Trane Technologies unveiled thermal management reference designs for AI facilities (gigawatt-scale) built on NVIDIA Omniverse DSX Blueprint, integrating Trane chillers, coolant distribution units (CDUs), heat exchangers, pumps, and control sequences for adoption by colocation providers and data center owners.
  • Background & technical details: The interview with Mauro Atalla emphasizes that direct-to-chip liquid cooling (water-glycol CDUs) is becoming essential as single server racks can produce up to 200 kW (sometimes 600 kW, and projected toward 1 MW) of thermal load; the piece also notes liquid-cooled systems have seconds of thermal margin (vs. minutes for air-cooled) and therefore require immediate backup power / continuity and tighter integration of power, cooling, and operations.
• May 5, 2026

  New Data Center Developments: May 2026

  Data Center Knowledge published a monthly roundup highlighting global data center project announcements, regulatory moves, and investment commitments driven by hyperscale AI demand.

  • Main announcement: The roundup catalogs multiple concrete project actions including Aligned Data Centers’ Project Caprock (540 MW, 313-acre campus in Hale County, Texas; initial delivery Q1 2027), EdgeCore’s completion of $1.5 billion in financing for two Northern Virginia hyperscale centers, and Yondr Group energizing a 27 MW Toronto facility expected in mid-2026. It also notes major investment commitments such as Digital Realty’s near S$7 billion Singapore plan (S$4.3 billion for new data centers) and AWS increasing planned investment in Mississippi to $25 billion.
  • Context and details: The piece outlines parallel regulatory updates in U.S. states (Maine vetoed a moratorium; Wisconsin revised We Energies tariff rules; North Carolina advanced legislation to require hyperscalers to cover infrastructure costs), workforce and partnership initiatives (Equinix Foundation with ODATA, Cisco, Vertiv launching training in Brazil, cohorts mid-2026), and other regional projects and financings (TikTok €1 billion Finland site; Ark Data Centres >€600 million Barcelona project; Equinix land purchases in South Africa totaling ZAR 890 million).
• Apr 23, 2026

  AI Pushes Cooling to the Forefront of Data Center Design Challenges

  A joint session at Data Center World led by Aligned Data Centers and Trane Technologies argued that cooling must be treated as the central system as AI workloads drive rack densities toward the megawatt era.

  • Main announcement/action: The session presenters (Phill Lawson-Shanks of Aligned Data Centers and Mauro Atalla of Trane Technologies) framed cooling as a system-design problem, citing megawatt-scale racks, multi-gigawatt campuses, and that cooling accounts for roughly 20% of data center energy use; operators are adopting hybrid air-liquid architectures, single-phase liquid cooling for near-term chips, and modular skid-based 2–3 megawatt units for scalable deployment.
  • Background and details: The discussion highlighted operational risks and design changes — liquid systems tolerate seconds vs. minutes for air, driving needs for thermal buffering, tighter power integration, and telemetry aggregation; examples of heat reuse were noted in Europe (district heating, greenhouse integration) while the United States faces distance-related constraints; the commentary reports on the session rather than announcing a new product or contract.
• Apr 21, 2026

  Data Center World 2026: As AI Scale Surges, a Call to Build for Legacy

  Data Center World 2026 opened in Washington, D.C., bringing industry leaders together under the theme “Innovation at Scale” to address rapid growth, sustainability, and energy challenges.

  • Event details & key announcements: The conference theme is “Innovation at Scale”; speakers included Bill Kleyman (AFCOM), Maxine Holt and Vlad Galabov (Omdia), Joe Kava (AFCOM Lifetime Achievement Award recipient, former Google VP of Data Centers), Scott Armul (Vertiv), Amber Caramella (Netrality), and Phill Lawson-Shanks (Aligned Data Centers). Omdia projected global IT spend of $6.07 trillion in 2026 (up 10% on 2025) and highlighted hyperscale/neocloud investments; Omdia’s Vlad Galabov referenced a prior $1.6 trillion figure for 2030 and a prediction the data center market would surpass $1.9 trillion. The conference foregrounded energy concerns, including projections that data centers could account for up to 17% of U.S. electricity consumption by 2030.
  • Context, technical details & follow-ups: Speakers discussed concrete infrastructure approaches: SMRs, nuclear fusion, microgrids, extreme rack densities (GPU racks approaching 1 MW in a traditional rack footprint), and the need for new substation/reference designs. Community engagement and public perception were highlighted as immediate implementation issues, and Joe Kava received AFCOM’s Lifetime Achievement Award. The article is a conference report/summary (announcement of the event and recaps of remarks), not a primary policy or procurement announcement.
• Apr 17, 2026

  AI Infrastructure Brief: Power, Capital, and the Feeling That Something Is Tightening

  Matt Vincent (Data Center Frontier) summarized the week’s announcements showing an accelerating AI data-center buildout paired with mounting power and coordination constraints.

  • Main observation: The industry is prioritizing power and speed: major deals and project announcements include Bloom Energy and Oracle planning up to 2.8 GW of deployment, Aligned Data Centers breaking ground on a 540 MW Project Caprock, an EdgeConneX affiliate proposing a 430 MW natural gas plant in New Albany, Ohio, proposals for 2 GW in New Mexico and 1.2 GW in Irwin County, Georgia, and Microsoft expanding datacenter operations in Cheyenne. The Maine legislature passed a temporary, exemption-inclusive ban on data centers, signaling emerging social-license constraints.
  • Capital and implementation details: Financial moves include Switch raising $768 million via ABS, Fluidstack reported in talks for a $1 billion round at an $18 billion valuation, and Jane Street signing a $6 billion AI cloud agreement with CoreWeave; CoreWeave also expanded a multi-year relationship with Anthropic. Utilities are signing long-term power agreements (e.g., NiSource with Alphabet and expanded ties with Amazon). AWS has launched “Project Houdini” to accelerate construction timelines. All items are factual recaps of announcements and reports from the week (no speculative outcomes included).
• Apr 16, 2026

  Data Center Protests Are Growing. How Should the Industry Respond?

  Data Center Watch reports community opposition has halted and delayed numerous U.S. data center projects.

  • Main findings: Data Center Watch says $18 billion in projects have been halted and $46 billiondelayed over the past two years; the group has identified at least 142 activist groups across 24 states blocking or opposing data center construction. Key affected projects and values are cited throughout the article (examples listed below).
  • Context and examples: The article is a reporting/summary of recent project cancellations, postponements, and opposition rather than a new project announcement. Examples include Tract (two Arizona projects, $14 billion withdrawn), QTS & Compass (Prince William, VA, $24.7 billion, 2.4 GW, legal challenges), and Amazon proposals ($6 billion in King George, VA and other contested sites). The piece compiles project statuses, industry commentary, and technical/community concerns (power, water, health, jobs).
• Apr 7, 2026

  From Land Grab to Structured Scale: Kirkland & Ellis Explains How Capital, Power, and Deal Complexity Are Defining the AI Data Center Boom

  Kirkland & Ellis partners Melissa Kalka and Kimberly McGrath discussed how AI is reshaping data center finance on the Data Center Frontier Show (podcast episode published April 7, 2026).

  • Main announcement/action: The partners explained that while capital remains abundant, the market has shifted from a land-grab mentality to capital discipline, with power certainty now the central underwriting filter; investors evaluate platform execution history, contract structure, and delivery timelines (sites need credible power within a four- to five-year window). The discussion highlights evolving financing structures including private credit, infrastructure-style investments, and open-ended/perpetual vehicles for long-term ownership; the episode cites multi‑billion-dollar transactions (including the $40 billion Aligned deal) as examples of the scale driving new capital stacks.

  • Background and details: Powered land has emerged as a distinct asset category; developers and lenders increasingly scrutinize interconnection queues, alternative power solutions (behind-the-meter, hybrid partnerships), and customer contract terms to meet lender expectations. The podcast (Episode date: April 7, 2026) stresses that projects must be structured early for financeability, divisibility, and long-term holding, requiring intense coordination across legal, regulatory, energy, real estate, financing, environmental, and community stakeholders.

• Apr 2, 2026

  New Data Center Developments: April 2026

  Data Center Knowledge published a monthly roundup of global data center developments and investments.

  • Key highlights and announced projects: The roundup summarizes multiple announced projects and financing moves, including Moody’s projection of ~$700 billion hyperscaler capex in 2026, Crusoe’s 900 MW AI data center in Abilene, West Texas (to support Microsoft workloads), Meta’s revised $10 billion investment targeting 1 GW capacity in El Paso with a planned 2028 launch, Penzance Management’s planned $4 billion investment for a 600 MW High Impact Intelligence Center in West Virginia, Aligned Data Centers’ $2.58 billion credit facility for US expansion, Digital Edge’s $665 million green loan for phase I of a 500 MW Bekasi campus, Pure DC’s 110 MW microgrid in Dublin, Prime Data Centers’ €6 billion campus plan for 550 MW, and Datagrid’s approval for a 280 MW hyperscale campus in New Zealand.
  • Context and supporting details: The article emphasizes energy and grid constraints and on-site/clean power solutions (e.g., Google + AES onsite clean energy, Concord New Energy + Bridge Data Centers barge-based hydrogen plant, Pure DC microgrid), highlights subsector partnerships (EdgeConneX + Kilimo water-efficiency program; MANTA consortium selecting MDC Data Centers for two cable landing hubs in Mexico), notes regional regulatory shifts (Australia’s new approval framework tying data center approvals to energy/resource commitments), and provides firm-level capital and timeline details where stated (e.g., Meta 2028 launch; Vietnam 200 MW AI data center construction starting end of April).
• Mar 30, 2026

  No one wanted to redevelop this polluted property. Then came AI.

  Viridian Partners has proposed to buy Janesville’s 250-acre former GM site, remediate contamination, and build an $8 billion, 11-building, 800 MW data center campus.

  • Main announcement:Viridian Partners offers to purchase a 250-acre parcel owned by the city of Janesville, remediate soil contaminated with hydrocarbons, heavy metals and PFAS at an estimated $30 million cleanup cost, and construct an 11-building, 800 MW data center campus with development partner Abbleby Strategy Group; the proposal estimates ~600 permanent jobs and ~13,000 construction jobs, and includes working with Alliant Energy and American Transmission Company to build a new electrical substation.
  • Background and other details: The EPA released guidance (Jan 2026) identifying 335 brownfields potentially suitable for data centers; the article references other large projects such as the $15 billion Stargate data center (OpenAI & Oracle), notes a canceled $20 million EPA community change grant and an ineligible $773 million environmental trust, and documents local energy, emissions, public-health, and political concerns including proposed new natural gas peaking plants, a citizen ballot initiative, and legislative proposals to expand developer access to brownfields funding.
• Mar 26, 2026

  Aligned Data Centers Closes on $2.58 Credit Facility

  Aligned Data Centers has announced a $2.58 billion revolving credit facility to finance US data center expansion.

  • Main announcement: Aligned secured a $2.58 billion revolving credit facility backed by six later-stage data centers (locations include Dallas, Phoenix, Northern Virginia). The facility matures in three years with the option for two one-year extensions and will be used to finish constructing the sites and finance future development projects; lenders include insurance companies, pension funds and other institutions, with PGIM confirmed as an anchor lender.
  • Background and other details: Aligned already maintains a credit facility with banks and intends to increase the new facility’s borrowing capacity as it adds data centers. The financing comes ahead of a previously agreed $40 billion acquisition of Aligned by a group led by BlackRock Inc.’s Global Infrastructure Partners from Macquarie Asset Management, which is expected to close later this year.
• Mar 2, 2026

  Land and Expand: Early 2026 Megaprojects Reflect a Power-First Ethos

  Data Center Frontier reports multiple developers advancing power-first, land-and-expand AI-ready data center campuses in early 2026.

  • Main announcement/action: Developers including Applied Digital (Delta Forge 1), Vantage (Lighthouse), AVAIO Digital (Little Rock), Rowan (Project Temple), Crow Holdings (Dallas) and Amazon (northwest Louisiana) are advancing large-scale projects that pair land banking with secured power and infrastructure commitments; examples include Applied Digital’s 430 MW Delta Forge 1 (two 150 MW facilities on 500+ acres, first operations targeted 2027) and Vantage’s $15B+ Lighthouse (four hyperscale data centers delivering nearly 902 MW IT load on ~672 acres, construction through 2028).
  • Background and details: Projects feature explicit infrastructure co-investments and timelines: Amazon’s $12 billion Louisiana buildout includes up to $400 million for regional water improvements and 100% developer-funded electric infrastructure; AVAIO’s $6 billion Little Rock hub has a 150 MW Entergy Arkansas commitment with potential to scale toward 1 GW, and Rowan’s Project Temple (300 MW, ~700 acres) targets initial operations in 2027 with ~$700 million local investment and unanimous local approvals.