Nebraska Data Center News

Mar 24, 2026

Nebraska advances energy storage and data centre-focused bill

Nebraska Legislature advanced LB1010, introduced by Republican state senator Tom Brandt, to clarify eminent domain, regulation, and taxation for battery energy storage systems (BESS) and to require data centres to disclose electricity usage.

Main action: LB1010 (“Adopt the Large Load Customer Regulation Act”) was introduced on 13 January by Sen. Tom Brandt and was further advanced on 12 March; the bill explicitly addresses eminent domain of electrical energy storage property, regulation and taxation of energy storage resources, and includes amendments related to cryptocurrency mining operations and data centres.
Background & next steps: The bill is currently in Enrollment and Review with three primary legislative steps remaining before being sent to the governor; related local actions include a 2025 Lancaster County zoning update proposal from Eolian to permit large-scale BESS via planning commission use permits (public hearings). Cleanview reports 5 utility-scale battery storage projects totalling 6MW in Nebraska as of March 2026.

Mar 23, 2026

Nebraska Wants To Build Batteries For Storing Renewable Energy

Nebraska Senator Tom Brandt has introduced Legislative Bill 1010 (LB1010) to enable private construction and maintenance of large-scale battery storage and to amend provisions related to electrical suppliers.

Main announcement: LB1010 would provide for eminent domain of electrical energy storage property and empower private electric suppliers to build and maintain large-scale battery storage facilities sized 50 megawatts up to 500 megawatts to complement publicly owned electric utilities.
Background and additional details: The bill would amend the Electric Cooperative Corporation Act, change application, notice, filing, exemption, and violation provisions relating to electrical suppliers, and (via Section AM 2386 to LB1111) would require data centers to submit annual reports to the Department of Water, Energy, and Environment including administrative names, physical size, electricity usage, annual water usage, and sales and tax exemptions.

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 13, 2026

OPINION: Care about the environment

Jocelynn Messersmith urges readers to reduce environmental harm by limiting non-essential uses of artificial intelligence and adopting everyday sustainable behaviors.

Main action: The opinion piece calls for reducing non-essential AI use (criticizing large-scale content generation and “busy work”), and adopting lifestyle choices like carpooling, public transportation, biking, walking, buying fewer things, shopping secondhand, and repairing items.
Background/details: The article cites environmental harms linked to AI and supporting infrastructure — data centres producing electronic waste, high water use, reliance on critical minerals, and large electricity consumption; it also references resources from UNEP and WWF and reiterates the long-standing advice to reduce, reuse and recycle.

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.

Feb 23, 2026

1623 Farnam Partners with Bridged Broadband to Expand Diverse Midwest Connectivity

1623 Farnam announced a strategic partnership with Bridged Broadband to establish Bridged Broadband presence at 1623 Farnam and extend carrier-diverse routes from Omaha into Kansas City and rural Missouri.

Partnership announcement: 1623 Farnam and Bridged Broadband have established an interconnection at 1623 Farnam enabling carrier-diverse routes between Omaha, Kansas City and rural Missouri; Bridged Broadband is deploying an 800G DWDM backbone with full IP/MPLS integration to provide scalable, low-latency, resilient connectivity.
Background and concrete details: Bridged Broadband’s Omaha-to-Missouri routes are fully diverse from national carrier networks; 1623 Farnam also announced a second interconnection facility in Omaha planned to be operational in mid-2028 with at least 5MW of capacity, expanding its regional interconnection footprint.

Jan 28, 2026

Idaho Gets NIST Approval to Advance Broadband Deployment

Idaho received NIST approval to advance deployment of its $583 million BEAD allocation.

NIST approval received: Idaho awarded 92 projects to 23 subgrantees, targeting 92,500 homes and businesses; approved deployment mix 50% fiber, 25% fixed wireless, 25% low-Earth-orbit satellite; after deployment and administrative costs the state identified about $110 million potentially eligible for non-deployment uses, subject to NTIA approval. Idaho plans to seek approval to direct non-deployment funds toward additional internet exchange points, regional traffic-routing hubs, and public safety communications (including advanced 911).
Background / other states: Washington has a $1.24 billion BEAD allocation across 235 project areas with a roughly even mix of fiber, fixed wireless, and satellite; states are pressing to use non-deployment funds to accelerate permitting and harden networks by reusing municipal infrastructure (e.g., Spokane County’s 20 public safety towers with “enormous capacity”). Nebraska approved a BEAD mix of ~50% fixed wireless, 40% satellite, 10% fiber, with approvals from NIST and the U.S. Department of Commerce, and intends to advocate non-deployment funding for agricultural technology, secure computing, and artificial intelligence infrastructure.

Jan 28, 2026

Internet Exchange Peering for Enterprises: Lower Egress, Better UX with Omaha IX

1623 Farnam promotes Omaha IX as a practical peering option for enterprises.

Main announcement/action: 1623 Farnam positions Omaha IX (the Omaha Internet Exchange) as a regional Internet Exchange that enterprises can join from a colocated rack to reduce cloud egress costs, improve latency and increase resilience; enterprises at 1623 Farnam can connect to the IX via physical or virtual cross-connects and configure BGP peering to selected networks.
Background and implementation details: The article outlines operational steps (physical/virtual cross connect, BGP peering sessions, incremental traffic shift), notes access to more than 60 carriers and network providers at 1623 Farnam, and describes the IX as complementing private cloud on-ramps, private interconnects, MPLS/SD-WAN and other connectivity models.

Jan 16, 2026

1623 Farnam Expands Omaha Footprint With Second Midwest Interconnection Facility

1623 Farnam has closed on a second interconnection facility in Omaha, planned to be operational in mid-2028.

Announcement: 1623 Farnam has closed on a second interconnection facility in Omaha that is planned to be operational in mid-2028 and will deliver at least 5MW of capacity to expand its regional interconnection footprint.
Details & context: The new facility will complement 1623 Farnam’s flagship carrier hotel, extend interconnection density and network diversity, and is presented by parent company BERKS Group as strengthening Omaha as a Midwest interconnection hub; additional availability and connectivity details will be shared as the project progresses.

Jan 15, 2026

1623 Farnam in Review: 2025 Milestones and What’s Ahead for Connectivity in 2026

1623 Farnam announced its 2025 milestones and its positioning for connectivity in 2026.

Mid-2025 facility expansion: 1623 Farnam completed a strategic expansion in mid-2025 that added 1.5 MW of IT capacity and 280 new cabinets, strengthened its carrier- and cloud-neutral interconnection fabric, and supported increased edge deployments and cross-connect capacity. The Omaha IX saw growth including the Iowa Communications Network (ICN) tapping into the Omaha IX to expand statewide reach.
Cloud, peering and wireless capabilities: 1623 Farnam emphasized Microsoft Azure ExpressRoute private connectivity, access to 60+ carriers and Google Cloud on-ramps, and its role as a backhaul and aggregation hub for Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) and wireless packet core placement. The article frames 2026 as a year for optimization around edge-first architectures, IX-based traffic exchange, hybrid/multi-cloud normalization and wireless backhaul efficiency.

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