Colorado Data Center Intel

Recent Colorado data center news

• Apr 1, 2026

  Carr's FCC Expected to Release Public Notice on Achieving U.S. Drone Dominance

  FCC Chairman Brendan Carr is seeking new ideas on ways to boost U.S. drone dominance.

  • Public Notice expected today: The FCC’s Wireless Telecommunications Bureau and Office of Engineering and Technology are expected to issue a Public Notice seeking comment on regulatory and spectrum changes to strengthen U.S. drone technology, manufacturing, and operations; Carr visited Anduril Industries’ Texas test site on Tuesday with CEO Brian Schmipf and COO Matt Grimm to view drone and counter-drone demonstrations and tied the effort to President Trump‘s strategy for American drone dominance.
  • Background and related items: Other items in the briefing include Nexstar‘s claim that a judge created a ‘governance vacuum’ with the TEGNA TRO, Scripps closing an $83 million sale of its ABC Indianapolis station to Circle City Broadcasting, an Amazon Leo–Delta Airlines Wi‑Fi partnership, and reported concerns from Sen. Blumenthal about Big Tech data center risk concealment.
• Apr 1, 2026

  Geothermal’s Rise a Hot Topic Worldwide

  Rystad Energy forecasts near-term surge in geothermal investment to 2030.

  • Main announcement: Rystad Energy projects global investment in geothermal could reach nearly $9 billion by 2030, up from about $1.4 billion in 2020; the article reports multiple new commercial and pilot projects (e.g., Fervo Energy’s 500-MW Cape Station in Utah; the U.S. EIA notes the first large-scale commercial EGS in the U.S. is expected online in June). Include timelines and project scales where given.
  • Background and supporting details:Corporate deals and government support include Google’s long-term agreement with Ormat to supply up to 150 MW in Nevada (online 2028–2030), XGS Energy’s $1.2-billion, 150-MW project to power Meta in New Mexico (two phases operational by 2030), federal and state grants (e.g., $1.78 million tax credit for Vail on a $6-million library geothermal project; DOE / GEODE $165 million grant programs; an $8.6-million grant approved to expand a U.S. Northeast geothermal district heating network).
• Apr 1, 2026

  Leadership Updates: Key Data Center & Cloud Appointments (Q2 2026)

  Data Center Knowledge has launched a new quarterly series highlighting leadership changes across the data center and cloud industries.

  • Main announcement: The roundup catalogs multiple executive appointments across operators and vendors, including Michael Lahoud named CEO of Stream Data Centers (after 15 years with the firm), Stream’s new hyperscale and sustainability hires (Stacy Medeiros, Santiago Suinaga, Oisín Ó Murchú, Rick Crutchley, Amanda Abell), John Bates named EVP of development and power at Prime Data Centers, Gary Wojtaszek appointed executive chairman and interim CEO of Pure Data Centres Group, and Vantage Data Centers’ appointments of Alicia Ruckteschler (CPO) and Scott Beasley (CFO).
  • Background and other details: The article lists additional vendor and advisory hires (e.g., Michael Maiello at Mission Critical Group; Doug Recker as CEO of Duos Technologies; Andrew Lake at Element Critical; Andrew Worley at Skeleton Technologies), cites Pure DC’s recent Europe’s first data center microgrid and >1 GW of capacity live/under development, references CyrusOne’s $15 billion acquisition by KKR and Global Infrastructure Partners, and notes DataBank’s board additions and the editorial contact editors@datacenterknowledge.com.
• 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 27, 2026

  In Colorado, labor and environmental groups split over data center regulations

  State Sen. Cathy Kipp has sponsored an environmental regulations bill that would require large data center developers to invest in new clean energy and grid upgrades (a BYONCE “bring your own new clean energy” approach), pay prevailing wages, and participate in apprenticeship programs; an industry-backed competing bill would instead offer a 20-year sales tax break if developers follow more moderate environmental rules. This article reports on introduced legislation and committee hearings and does not announce a final law or concluded deal.

  • Main action: Sen. Cathy Kipp (D-Fort Collins) is sponsoring a bill to require large data centers to finance clean energy and grid upgrades (BYONCE), pay prevailing wages, and participate in apprenticeship programs as conditions for development; the bill faced extensive testimony and labor opposition during its first committee hearing.
  • Background & context: Labor unions warned the bill could push jobs to neighboring states (e.g., Wyoming) and some unions back a rival, industry-supported bill (HB26-1030) offering a 20-year sales tax break; lawmakers are negotiating amendments and have rescheduled the competing bill’s committee hearing while talks continue. The article references investment context (2013–2024 global private investment into data centers/AI ~$1.6 trillion) and projected construction employment effects (~6% boost in non-residential construction jobs over the next decade per BLS).
• Mar 24, 2026

  Climate Change Solutions - March 24, 2026

  EESI published its “Climate Change Solutions” newsletter summarizing recent analysis, events, and legislative activity related to energy grid upgrades, data center impacts, and climate information integrity.

  • Main announcement: EESI highlights solutions including reconductoring to expand U.S. grid capacity, coverage of data center noise and water use issues, and a podcast on climate data integrity; the newsletter also notes EESI hosted a Rapid Readout on the repeal of the EPA’s 2009 Endangerment Finding (readout available via EESI).
  • Additional details and timeline: Congressional actions noted include passage/introduction of bills: H.R.2709 (Save Our Sequoias Act) passed House, H.R.528 (Post-Disaster Reforestation and Restoration Act of 2025) passed House, reintroduction of S.4096 / H.R.7921 (Rural Decentralized Water Systems Reauthorization Act), and introduction of H.R.7977 (Energy Bills Relief Act). Upcoming EESI events: Tracking Down Data on April 23, Water Infrastructure briefing on May 7, and EXPO 2026 on June 24.
• Mar 24, 2026

  Octopus Acquires Majority Stake in Grid Tech Company Uplight

  The Octopus Energy Group has announced it has acquired a majority stake in Uplight.

  • Main announcement: Octopus Energy Group has acquired a majority stake in Uplight to enable its ability to help utilities in North America manage surging electricity demand driven by data centre buildouts and electrification; the transaction is being completed in partnership with Schneider Electric, which will remain a significant minority partner.
  • Background and details:Uplight (founded 2019, Colorado-based) serves over 85 utilities across North America, including 8 of the 10 largest U.S. utilities, and manages over 8.5 gigawatts of flexible load; Schneider Electric previously invested in 2021 in a deal valuing Uplight at $1.5 billion. Octopus’s AI-powered spinout Kraken will explore collaboration with Uplight on customer operations and flexibility orchestration.
• Mar 17, 2026

  Berkeley Lab Takes Major Step Toward Doudna with Delivery of Early Access System, Cech

  NERSC has announced delivery and installation of the NERSC-10 Pilot Early Access System (EAS) named Cech at Berkeley Lab to prepare for the full-scale NERSC-10 production system, Doudna.

  • Main announcement: NERSC received the NERSC-10 Pilot Early Access System (EAS) called Cech, which is being installed at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory; the EAS is a smaller test system to refine assembly, delivery, installation, and integration processes ahead of deploying the full production system Doudna in late 2026 (also referenced as “end of the year” in comments). Key technical details: 72 NVIDIA Grace CPUs, 144 NVIDIA Blackwell GPUs, 5.76 petaflop/s FP64 and 1.44 exaflop/s NVFP4 capability, networking via NVIDIA Quantum-X800 InfiniBand, Dell IR7000 direct liquid-cooled racks, first U.S. deployment of Rittal in-row V3.5 coolant distribution unit, and Dell’s PowerCool Enclosed Rear Door Heat Exchanger (eRDHx) claiming up to 60% reduced cooling costs versus traditional options.
  • Background & implementation details: The EAS (Cech) is a public–private partnership involving NERSC, Dell Technologies, NVIDIA, and VAST Data; it will be used for software stack development (Omnia, OpenCHAMI), benchmarking, telemetry/monitoring, storage integration with Community File System and HPSS, and ESnet connectivity. The EAS is explicitly a testing/development milestone (not yet available to users) to ensure a smooth deployment of the full Doudna production system; the article is an announcement of this delivery and installation milestone.
• Mar 12, 2026

  Valley Data Center to be Acquired with Plans for Major Expansion

  RadiusDC has announced a definitive agreement to acquire phoenixNAP’s Phoenix, Arizona data center and colocation business, with closing expected in Q2 2026.

  • Acquisition details: RadiusDC will acquire the existing Phoenix colocation facility, interconnection infrastructure, and development rights; upon closing RadiusDC will expand DC1 to 8 megawatts of IT power and develop DC2 to add up to 18 megawatts, with initial DC2 phases expected online beginning first half of 2028, positioning the Phoenix I campus to scale to approximately 26 megawatts of total critical IT power capacity; closing is subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals.
  • Background & advisors: Approximately 80% of phoenixNAP’s global business will remain independently owned and operated by phoenixNAP, which will remain a tenant in the Phoenix facility; financial and legal advisors include J.P. Morgan (financial advisor to RadiusDC), BofA Securities (exclusive financial advisor to phoenixNAP), Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP, Snell & Wilmer LLP, and Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP.
• Mar 11, 2026

  Climate Change Solutions - March 10, 2026

  EESI will host a briefing on energy efficiency with the Alliance to Save Energy on March 12 to highlight cost-effective measures for households and small businesses.

  • Main announcement: EESI and the Alliance to Save Energy will hold a briefing Strategies to Lower Utility Bills Now for Households and Small Businesses on Thursday, March 12, 3:00 p.m. - 4:30 p.m., in the Rayburn House Office Building, Gold Room (Room 2168) and online (RSVP link available). The event focuses on energy efficiency solutions for households and small businesses and invites expert panelists to discuss readily-available measures.
  • Background and other details: EESI published a Climate Jobs fact sheet citing >4 million climate jobs in 2024 and a 2.8% growth rate in clean energy jobs; it also promoted the 29th annual Congressional Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency EXPO on June 24 (Rayburn Foyer and Gold Room, 10:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m., online option). The newsletter summarizes recent congressional activity on bills including S.2245 (Digital Coast Act extension), H.R.755 (Critical Mineral Consistency Act of 2025), H.R.390 (ACERO Act), and H.R.2600 (ASCEND Act), and notes hearings that focused on the electric grid and data centers.