California Data Center Intel

Recent California data center news

• Mar 11, 2026

  Google acquires Intersect Power for $4.75bn

  Google has acquired San Francisco-based Intersect Power for $4.75bn, and the clean-energy assets have been spun out into a new independent power producer, IPX Power, which has launched with majority backing from TPG Rise Climate.

  • Main announcement:Google purchased Intersect Power‘s digital power business for $4.75bn (including assumption of debt); concurrently Intersect’s grid-tied clean energy assets were spun out into IPX Power, with the total enterprise value of the combined transactions at $12bn and the deal first announced in December 2025.
  • Background and details: IPX Power launches as an independent power producer majority-owned by TPG Rise Climate with support from Greenbelt Capital Partners and Climate Adaptive Infrastructure, starting with 4.4GW solar capacity and 8.8 GWh battery storage either operational or under construction in California and Texas; Google had formed a partnership with Intersect and TPG in December 2024 to link data centre demand with new clean generation and storage, and acquired Intersect’s digital power assets after one year.
• Mar 11, 2026

  Sustainable Finance Awards 2026: Environmental Rollbacks Ding Markets

  Global Finance announces winners of its 2026 Sustainable Finance Awards and reports on market trends amid regulatory rollbacks.

  • Main announcement: Global Finance published its Sustainable Finance Awards 2026 winners (covering activities from January 2025 to December 2025). The program included a new Best Blue Bond category won by BTG Pactual for financing a project to improve freshwater availability and water sanitation in Brazil. The awards required metric-based submissions (year-over-year growth, portfolio percentages, goal alignment) and there was no fee to enter.
  • Context and details: The article cites the Climate Bonds Initiative reporting $6.5 trillion in green/social/sustainability-related debt as of Q3 2025 and Bloomberg Reuters year-to-date comparisons ($918 billion in 2025 vs $922 billion in 2024). It details EU proposals to ease Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive obligations and multiple US federal rollbacks (vehicular GHG standards, coal-plant emissions standards, weakened power-plant rules, and withdrawal from the Paris Agreement). Crédit Agricole projects up to €870 billion ($1.19 trillion) in sustainability-related debt facilities in 2026, and the piece notes Chinese banks funding projects including eco-friendly server farms and BNP Paribas reporting renewed momentum in blue bonds following the UN Ocean Conference.
• Mar 10, 2026

  Eridu exits stealth with $200M to rebuild AI networking

  Eridu has launched out of stealth with more than $200 million in Series A funding to build custom silicon and a clean-sheet network switch for AI data center networking.

  • Main announcement: Eridu announced a Series A of more than $200 million (listed as $200 million in company summary) led by Socratic Partners with participation from John Doerr, Hudson River Trading, Capricorn Investment Group, and Matter Venture Partners; the company is headquartered in Saratoga, California, was founded in 2023, and plans to release more technical details and partnership announcements later in 2026.
  • Background and details: Eridu is founded by Drew Perkins (previously co-founded Lightera and Infinera) and has a partnership with TSMC for process technology and advanced system integration; the company has not disclosed product specifications or a GA date and is positioning its offering against incumbents Broadcom, Cisco, and Nvidia.
• Mar 10, 2026

  On the Hill in January and February 2026: A Breakdown of Climate, Energy, and Environmental Hearings

  The U.S. Congress has held 34 climate, energy, and environment-related committee hearings since reconvening at the start of 2026.

  • Summary of main action: Congress held 34 hearings (26 in the House across 8 committees; 8 in the Senate across 6 committees) focusing heavily on electric grid, data centers, water infrastructure, disaster management, and infrastructure reauthorizations (WRDA and the surface transportation bill). The House Natural Resources Committee held 11 hearings, the House Energy and Commerce Committee held 5, and the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee held 3. Notable single hearings included a House Science, Space, and Technology subcommittee hearing on AI and data centers, a House Energy and Commerce session with FERC on energy affordability and reliability, and an oversight hearing by the House Appropriations Committee on potential DHS shutdown impacts (hearing occurred on February 11, 2026).
  • Background and other details: Congress held six infrastructure-related hearings in January–February 2026 to inform reauthorization of WRDA and surface transportation, with technical input largely from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; multiple hearings addressed wastewater, stormwater, and drinking water challenges. Congress also held hearings on wildfire prevention and recovery, critical minerals supply chains (including closed and public briefings involving State and Defense officials), and marine and terrestrial conservation. The DHS oversight hearing occurred three days before the start of a partial government shutdown (ongoing as of publication); witnesses warned a lapse in DHS funding could “irrevocably impact” regional partnerships and disrupt first-responder training.
• Mar 9, 2026

  Data center water spikes could cost billions

  A UC Riverside research team led by Shaolei Ren has announced that community waterworks across the U.S. will need billions of dollars in new infrastructure to meet projected peak water demands from data centers.

  • Main finding: The study quantifies that, within four years, data center cooling peak demands could require 697 million to 1.45 billion gallons per day of additional peak water capacity, and the estimated cost of required water infrastructure is $10 billion to $58 billion, depending on data center growth rates. The report calls for reporting peak water use (not just annual averages) and recommends developers add or fund water capacity or efficiency improvements to offset their own use.
  • Background and specifics: The paper notes that on very hot days single data centers can withdraw >1 million gallons/day, with some planned allocations up to 8 million gallons/day. In February 2026, three major technology companies secured multi-million gallons/day water allocations for projects in Virginia, Louisiana, and Indiana, with combined related infrastructure costs approaching $1 billion. The study stresses limits from snowpack and reservoirs and cites the EPA estimate of trillions of dollars needed for national water/wastewater upgrades over the next two decades.
• Mar 6, 2026

  President Trump Issues ‘Rate Payer Protection Pledge’ Proclamation

  President Trump signed the “Rate Payer Protection Pledge” proclamation requiring hyperscalers and large tech firms to supply on-site energy and pay for necessary grid infrastructure upgrades to prevent electricity rate hikes for ratepayers.

  • Main action: The proclamation, first announced at the State of the Union, was signed with executives from Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft, OpenAI, Oracle, and xAI committing to provide on-site energy and cover costs of grid upgrades to avoid passing electricity rate increases to consumers.
  • Background and context: Experts warned of capacity shortfalls and long interconnection/permitting timelines (example: “5 years” in the interconnection queue plus additional permitting time), making it unlikely new generation can meet data center demand by 2027–2028; the proclamation is nonbinding (no force of law) and Sen. Mark Kelly described it as effectively a “handshake deal”.
• Mar 4, 2026

  Nvidia Targets AI Infrastructure Bottleneck With $2 Billion Photonics Investment

  Nvidia announced it will invest $2 billion to expand research and U.S. manufacturing capacity in advanced optical networking technologies and signed multiyear supply agreements with Lumentum.

  • Investment and partnership: Nvidia will invest $2 billion to expand research and manufacturing capacity in advanced optical networking technologies; the funding will support Lumentum Holdings to expand R&D and build additional U.S. manufacturing capacity, including a new fabrication facility.
  • Scope and implementation details: The deal includes multiyear supply agreements for optical components used in large AI computing systems and focuses on silicon photonics to accelerate data transfer inside AI systems; the announcement was made from Barcelona on March 4, 2026.
• Mar 4, 2026

  NTT DATA’s Quiet Surge: Hyperscale Wins, AI Partnerships, and Private 5G Push Signal Expanding Influence in the AI Infrastructure Era

  NTT DATA announced nearly 115 MW of new data center capacity commitments across multiple U.S. campuses as part of a broader platform strategy linking hyperscale infrastructure, enterprise cloud transformation, and edge AI.

  • Major announcement: NTT DATA secured nearly 115 MW of new capacity commitments across campuses in Gainesville (VA11, Northern Virginia), Chicago (IL), and Sacramento (CA) on March 3; those deals include >90 MW from a major hyperscale provider at VA11 and nearly 20 MW from three enterprise customers (financial services, gaming, cybersecurity). The company previously disclosed >130 MW of hyperscale commitments in December 2025 (Chicago, Dallas, Phoenix, Northern Virginia), bringing the two announcements to ~250 MW of announced hyperscale commitments.
  • Background and additional details: NTT DATA has opened 10 new data centers, added >370 MW of IT capacity, and committed over $10 billion in infrastructure investment through 2027. The company also announced a multi-year Strategic Collaboration Agreement with AWS (dedicated AWS Business Group ~11,000 certified experts, plans to certify ~10,000 more) and a private 5G partnership with Ericsson, including a global private 5G rollout with Cargill across 50 sites. Other facts: acquisition of Zero&One (Dubai) to strengthen Middle East cloud consulting; recognition as Global Top Employer 2026.
• Mar 4, 2026

  Data Center Jobs: Engineering, Construction, Commissioning, Sales, Field Service and Facility Tech Jobs Available in Major Data Center Hotspots

  Data Center Frontier, in partnership with Pkaza, has posted the latest roundup of data center career opportunities on the Data Center Frontier jobs board.

  • Main announcement: Data Center Frontier and Pkaza published 13 current data center job listings across the United States (examples include Electrical Applications Engineer, Electrical Commissioning Engineer, Production Architect – Data Center Facilities Design, Director of Construction, and Data Center Facility Operations Director), with many roles offering remote options or multiple city locations (e.g., Pittsburgh, Dallas, New York, Ashburn, Columbus, Boulder, Chesterton, Augusta).
  • Background and details: Listings are provided by/for mission-critical and colo/hyperscale sectors and emphasize reliability, energy efficiency, sustainable design and LEED expertise; roles cover engineering design & commissioning firms, electrical contracting, general contracting and data center developers, and include positions supporting AI/HPC infrastructure and brownfield conversions.
• Mar 4, 2026

  EQT, GIP Move to Take AES Private in $33B Bet on Data Center Power Demand

  A consortium led by Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) and EQT has announced a definitive agreement to acquire AES Corp. in an all-cash transaction.

  • Deal terms and timing: The consortium will acquire AES for $15.00 per share in cash, valuing equity at $10.7 billion and enterprise value at about $33.4 billion (including debt); the transaction is expected to close in late 2026 or early 2027, subject to shareholder approval and U.S. and foreign regulatory approvals.
  • Operational and financing context: AES said it is self‑funded through 2027, plans to continue investing roughly $1.8 billion a year in growth, will maintain existing capital programs (including a 1.2-GW gas repowering at AES Indiana and 4.8 GW of backlog projects under construction through 2027), and the consortium will fund 100% of the purchase price in equity; AES utilities in Indiana and Ohio will remain locally operated and regulated, and regulators will review transaction impacts on rates and ring-fencing measures.