California Data Center Intel

Recent California data center news

• Mar 15, 2026

  AI data centres face backlash from Mayors in US cities over power use, pollution fears

  Mayors in major US cities are challenging tech companies over data centre energy demands and local pollution impacts.

  • Main action: Mayors (including Tim Kelly of Chattanooga, Kate Gallego of Phoenix and Larry Klein of Sunnyvale) are publicly pressuring big tech over the environmental and infrastructure costs of AI data centres — citing strained power grids, water supply depletion, and local pollution. The White House also convened big tech this month to demand companies bear the cost of powering new data centres. Key project details: xAI is reported to be running at least 18 methane gas turbines at its South Memphis site; Mississippi regulators approved generators despite local resistance; APS warned that approving all proposed data centres would push electricity demand to 19,000 megawatts (more than double the grid’s record peak).
  • Background and other details: The discussion surfaced at SXSW in Austin, Texas where mayors raised concerns about non-disclosure agreements that keep communities uninformed until late in the process and contrasted more transparent operators (Microsoft, Google) with less transparent firms. Phoenix is highlighted as a magnet for data centres due to tax incentives and low regulation. Reporting sources include AFP and an NBC News poll showing public skepticism about AI.
• Mar 13, 2026

  Google completes US$4.75 billion Intersect Power acquisition, initial focus on California & Texas solar-plus-storage

  Google has finalised the acquisition of US renewable energy developer Intersect Power.

  • Main action: Google completed the acquisition of TPG Rise Climate’s share of Intersect Power for US$4.75 billion (transaction began in December 2025). As part of the deal, lead shareholders including TPG, Google, Climate Adaptive Infrastructure (CAI) and Greenbelt Capital Partners spun off Intersect’s grid-tied power business into a new independent power producer, IPX Power, which will focus on co-located solar and battery energy storage (BESS) projects primarily in Texas and California.
  • Background and implementation details: Google said the acquisition provides a scalable model to meet growing compute demand and announced plans to invest US$40 billion to build three data centres in Texas through 2027; CEO Sundar Pichai also said Google will spend US$185 billion on AI-related capital expenditure this year. The deal follows industry coordination at a White House meeting where a ‘ratepayer protection pledge’ was announced and signed by Google, Amazon, Meta, Microsoft, Oracle, OpenAI and xAI.
• Mar 13, 2026

  The Gigawatt Bottleneck: Power Constraints Define AI Data Center Growth

  Bloom Energy has released the 2026 Data Center Power Report finding electricity availability has become a defining boundary on data center expansion.

  • Main announcement: The Bloom Energy 2026 Data Center Power Report concludes electricity availability is now a primary constraint for data center growth; it projects U.S. IT load could rise from ~80 GW (2025) to ~150 GW (2028), and highlights major grid forecast revisions such as ERCOT increasing its 2030 data center demand projection from 29 GW to 77 GW and a possible statewide peak of 218 GW by 2031. The report also states roughly one-third of U.S. data centers may rely entirely on onsite power by 2030 and that ~20% of campuses could exceed 1 GW by 2030, rising to nearly 1 in 3 by 2035.
  • Background and details: The analysis is based on surveys of hyperscalers, colocation providers, utilities, and equipment suppliers through 2025 and documents operational shifts: Texas may exceed 40 GW by 2028 (nearly 30% national share); Georgia market share projected +75% while several legacy markets could lose >50% relative share; utilities and developers show a 1–2 year expectation gap on “time to power”; >70% of developers are evaluating onsite power providers; by 2028, 60% expect higher-voltage busways and 45% expect DC architectures.
• Mar 12, 2026

  NTT DATA Lands 115 MW in US Data Center Deals as Part of $10B AI Push

  NTT DATA has secured nearly 115 MW of new data center capacity commitments across three US campuses (Gainesville, Va.; Chicago; Sacramento, Calif.).

  • Primary announcement: NTT DATA secured nearly 115 MW of new commitments, including more than 90 MW from a major hyperscale provider at its VA11 campus (Northern Virginia) and nearly 20 MW from three enterprise organizations (a financial services institution, a gaming platform provider, and a cybersecurity company). The company is executing a multi-year plan to invest more than $10 billion in data center infrastructure by 2027, targeting high-density compute, AI training/inference, and liquid-cooling deployments.
  • Background and implementation details: Over the past year NTT launched 10 new facilities across North America, EMEA, and APAC, adding more than 370 MW of IT capacity. Design specifics include hybrid-ready data halls, modular fan walls and CDU loops in 1 MW increments, and support for rack densities north of 200 kW per rack; the company evaluates grid availability and alternative power sources (on-site generation, natural gas, fuel cells, nuclear) for site selection.
• Mar 12, 2026

  FluidCloud’s Large Infrastructure Model targets the multicloud networking gap

  FluidCloud has launched a Large Infrastructure Model (LIM) to generate, translate, and validate Terraform across multicloud environments.

  • Main announcement: FluidCloud announced the launch of a purpose-built Large Infrastructure Model (LIM) that generates, translates, and validates Terraform for multicloud migrations; the platform now accepts existing GitHub repositories, supports 150+ resource types, includes 1,800 compliance policies, and provides a compatibility scoring layer and outage prediction features.
  • Background and details: FluidCloud emerged from stealth in July 2025 with $8.1 million in seed funding; LIM uses a custom conditional model (not a fine-tuned LLM), was trained on synthetic Terraform data, currently benchmarks at a BLEU score of 0.58 (human-level ~0.60), and the company plans a public community page for outage predictions and future portable SDKs and agent workflows.
• Mar 12, 2026

  Improving U.S. Industrial Competitiveness and Productivity

  The U.S. Department of Energy announced a $155 million investment that includes three projects led by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory among 16 selected projects.

  • Main announcement: The DOE selected 16 projects and committed $155 million to strengthen U.S. industrial innovation; three projects are led by Berkeley Lab focusing on load flexibility (REFLEX), data center cooling (Data Center Cooling Collaborative), and the FOOD Center for food & beverage process technologies.
  • Details and scope: The projects will deliver real-world demonstrations (data centers, food distribution, manufacturing, water treatment), create a data center cooling testbed network, develop testing protocols and digital twin software, and establish an R&D and demonstration platform for scalable food & beverage technologies.
• Mar 12, 2026

  Fossil generation could rise with faster-than-expected growth in data center power demand

  The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) published an analysis showing that faster-than-expected electricity demand growth driven by data centers could increase natural gas and coal generation and raise wholesale electricity prices.

  • Main analysis and assumptions: The EIA produced a high demand growth scenario in which 2026 and 2027 growth rates are 50% higher than the February STEO in data-center-heavy regions, while other regions are +1 percentage point above STEO; the scenario assumes no additional generating capacity beyond the February STEO and applies an assumed +$0.50/MMBtu increase in natural gas delivered prices across regions.
  • Key modeled outcomes and metrics: Under the scenario, natural gas generation rises to +7.3% (123 BkWh) between 2025–2027 (vs 1.7% baseline), coal generation declines by 5.0% (37 BkWh) nationwide in the high case, and ERCOT 2027 wholesale prices model +$37/MWh above the February STEO (excluding ERCOT the average 2027 wholesale price is +$2.10/MWh above the STEO forecast of $48/MWh).
• Mar 12, 2026

  PJM Moves to Redefine Behind-the-Meter Power for AI Data Centers

  PJM Interconnection filed a tariff rewrite with FERC in February 2026 to sharply limit legacy behind-the-meter netting for new large loads above 50 MW.

  • Main action: PJM proposes a 50 MW threshold so that new behind-the-meter loads >50 MW would no longer qualify for legacy netting, includes a three-year transition period, and would grandfather existing arrangements for the life of their contracts; filing follows a December 18, 2025 FERC order directing PJM to create clear co-location rules.
  • Key details and implementation: PJM proposed three new transmission service constructs (Interim Network Integration Transmission Service, Firm Contract Demand Transmission Service, Non-Firm Contract Demand Transmission Service); rates/terms to be filed later; PJM also outlined a broader six-part large-load integration framework including expedited interconnection/BYOG pathways, improved load forecasting, and a potential backstop procurement process.
• Mar 12, 2026

  Drivers wonder if they should go electric as the war spikes gas prices

  The article reports that rising gasoline prices tied to the Iran war are increasing U.S. consumer interest in electric vehicles (EVs).

  • Main finding: Rising gasoline prices (national average $3.57/gal, up from $2.94/gal a month earlier) and concerns about price volatility are driving greater consumer consideration of hybrids and EVs; Edmunds found electrified-vehicle research rose to 22.4% of vehicle research activity in the week starting March 2 (from 20.7% the prior week).
  • Background and details:Residential electricity prices are generally regulated and less volatile (experts: Erich Muehlegger, Pierpaolo Cazzola); electricity costs can still rise (contributors include surging demand from new data centers and broader inflationary pressures noted by Holt Edwards). The article also cites average new EV price $55,300 vs average new vehicle $49,353 (Kelley Blue Book) and discusses supply-chain concerns tied to China.
• Mar 11, 2026

  TPG Rise Climate Completes $4.75B Sale of Intersect to Google, Launches IPX Power

  TPG Rise Climate has completed the sale of its stake in Intersect to Google for $4.75 billion (plus assumption of debt) and spun off Intersect’s grid‑tied power business into a new company, IPX Power, which TPG Rise Climate majority-backs.

  • Main announcement: TPG Rise Climate completed the sale of Intersect’s digital power business to Google for $4.75 billion (plus assumption of debt); concurrently Intersect’s grid‑tied clean energy assets were spun out into IPX Power, with TPG Rise Climate as majority backer. The transaction and spinout together represent a total enterprise value of $12 billion. The deal had been first announced in December (prior strategic partnership launched December 2024).
  • Background and details: The IPX platform will focus on co‑located solar and battery storage, citing an existing portfolio of 4.4 GW of solar PV and 8.8 GWh of battery storage in construction or operation and a multi‑gigawatt development pipeline; other investors in the spinout include Climate Adaptive Infrastructure and Greenbelt Capital Partners. The article also references Google’s separate $40 billion commitment to Texas through 2027 for AI infrastructure.