Tennessee Data Center News

Feb 27, 2026 · RMI

Why Communities Can and Must Consider Electricity Affordability and Risk Together

Stephen Abbott of RMI argues that communities should consider electricity affordability and risk together and pursue diverse, distributed energy portfolios rather than relying solely on large centralized fossil-fuel generation.

Main announcement/action: Communities and local governments should adopt portfolio-based energy strategies (energy efficiency, batteries, renewables, virtual power plants, and other flexible resources) to reduce price volatility and operational risk; RMI highlights concrete examples including data center-driven load growth of 32% by 2030, and Burlington’s 59,204 MWh annual reduction from its energy efficiency program.
Background and details: The piece cites recent cost and risk evidence: ComEd provided $277 million (2024) for efficiency programs yielding an estimated $3.2 billion in customer savings; reliance on fossil fuels produced at least $390 million in excess costs for communities around the Prairie State Energy Campus over four years; typical monthly fuel charges in Florida doubled from ~$20 to ~$40 (2020–2023); utilities such as TVA are proposing large new gas facilities as a conventional response.

Feb 27, 2026

Data centers remain standout industry for Schneider Electric

Schneider Electric reported full-year 2025 results showing continued growth driven by AI data center demand and announced a new five-year sustainability ambition.

Main announcement/action: Schneider reported 8.9% organic revenue growth in 2025 with data centers and networks the largest end-market (accounting for 30% of orders in 2025); the company projects the data center and networks vertical to grow by >10% annually through 2030 and said data center orders accelerated toward the end of 2025 and are expected to remain strong through 2026 as projects planned for the next 18–24 months take shape.
Background and other details: Schneider highlighted 11.2% Q4 organic growth in Energy Management, North America growth of 15% year-over-year, use of ETAP and NVIDIA Omniverse in design, the Motivair acquisition for high-performance cooling, a new manufacturing facility in Tennessee to produce custom power distribution equipment, and a five-year sustainability ambition to save/electrify 1,500 TWh (2026–2030) and avoid 1.5 billion tons CO2 (2018–2030).

Feb 25, 2026

Oak Ridge National Laboratory launches the Next-Generation Data Centers Institute

Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) has announced the launch of the Next Generation Data Centers Institute (NGDCI) to develop technologies that make AI data centers more efficient, reliable, secure, and integrated with the U.S. energy system.

Main announcement: NGDCI will coordinate ORNL’s energy science, computing, and national security strengths (including MEGA-DC, OLCF, campus microgrid and GRID-C testbeds) to research six priority areas: thermal management, power system architecture, grid integration, operations and load management, security, and integrated systems modeling. The Oak Ridge Reservation has been selected by DOE as a site to advance large-scale AI data center and energy generation projects, and NGDCI will support deployment of ORNL systems Discovery and Lux.
Background and partners: The article cites rising demand (data centers >4% of U.S. electricity use; AI-driven growth could reach 17% by 2030 per EPRI) and a McKinsey estimate of $7 trillion global data center infrastructure spending by 2030 (with >40% in the U.S.). Industry collaborators explicitly named include AMD, Carrier Energy, Chemours, and NVIDIA, and the effort aligns with DOE’s Genesis Mission. UT-Battelle manages ORNL for DOE.

Feb 25, 2026

Romania’s Coal-to-NuScale SMR Conversion Secures FID, Moves Into Implementation With Caveats

Nuclearelectrica has approved a final investment decision (FID) for a 462‑MWe six‑module NuScale VOYGR‑6 SMR at the former Doicești coal plant, moving the project from analysis into Stage 3 development.

Main announcement: Nuclearelectrica shareholders approved an FID for a 462‑MWe (6×77‑MWe) NuScale VOYGR‑6 SMR at Doicești; the FID is contingent on multiple mandatory conditions (listed in RoPower and Nuclearelectrica annexes) that remain under an eight‑year confidentiality agreement. RoPower (50/50 S.N. Nuclearelectrica S.A. / Nova Power & Gas S.A.) must complete geotechnical investigations, advance licensing, finalize a pre‑EPC contract, negotiate long‑lead equipment, define supply chains, and prepare organization for pre‑EPC/EPC by May 2026, and Stage 3 (pre‑EPC) is expected to last about 15 months to produce a Class 2 cost estimate and contractor shortlist.
Background and specifics: The Doicești brownfield was a decommissioned 600‑MW coal station where Nova Power & Gas removed ~600,000 tonnes of material and refurbished site infrastructure including a ~650‑MW grid connection and water access; parallel national nuclear work includes Cernavoda Unit 1 refurbishment (contract ~C$781 million for tooling; Unit 1 investment estimate €1.85 billion) and planning for Units 3 & 4 (estimated €7 billion, with U.S. EXIM letters of interest up to $50 million and up to $3 billion). The FID announcement signals advancing commercial, engineering (NuScale and Fluor FEED), and US government‑backed support (USTDA, EXIM) but remains explicitly conditional on the confidential requirements.

Feb 24, 2026

These data center developers asked Trump for an exemption from pollution rules

Novva and Thunderhead Energy Solutions requested presidential Clean Air Act exemptions from the EPA under the Trump administration to allow increased generator use at data centers.

Main announcement: Novva sought a two-year exemption to run 96 diesel generators without limits while finishing a 200 MW natural gas plant (the plant was earlier described as taking until 2027 to be built, though the article also says the gas plant is “expected to be operational in the coming months”). Thunderhead requested exemptions for 11 data centers consuming a combined 23 GW across Texas, Montana, and Illinois and proposed (in filings) a 5,000-MW gas plant in Winkler County, while publicly announcing a 250-MW plant in Ector County.
Background and process details: Companies submitted requests to a special EPA presidential-exemption inbox created under the Trump administration, arguing two required criteria: technology to comply is not available and operations are in the national security interest. An Environmental Defense Fund analysis of obtained records found that of more than 500 exemption requests it reviewed, roughly a third were granted; the EPA said it “played no role” and directed questions to the White House.

Feb 23, 2026

JLL: Hyperscale and AI Demand Push North American Data Centers Toward Industrial Scale

JLL has published the North America Data Center Report Year-End 2025 outlining a shift from cyclical real estate behavior to industrial-scale, infrastructure-like growth in digital infrastructure.

Key announcement: JLL’s report finds North America at 39 GW installed capacity (19 GW leased colocation, 20 GW hyperscaler-owned) and 35 GW under construction, with vacancy at 1% and 92% of construction pre-leased; JLL also reports 64% of new builds are in frontier markets and highlights potential for Texas (unified) to surpass Northern Virginia by 2030.
Background/details: JLL expanded methodology to include owner-occupied hyperscale capacity and 40+ additional markets, resetting baseline; it documents capital market activity including debt origination rising from $27B (2020) to $92B (2025), a $40B consortium acquisition of Aligned Data Centers (expected 2026 close), a $30B Blue Owl–Meta JV, and $17B of asset-backed securities issuance in 2025; it flags multi-year grid interconnection timelines (avg ~4 years), interim use of mobile natural gas turbines, and rising BESS deployments.

Feb 21, 2026

Bois Forte Band Begins Construction on $20 Million Tribal Fiber Project

The Bois Forte Band of Chippewa has begun construction on a federally funded fiber-optic broadband project backed by a $20 million grant.

Main announcement: The Bois Forte Band of Chippewa has begun construction on a fiber-to-the-home network funded by a $20 million grant awarded under the 2021 Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program, targeting delivery of up to 10 Gbps service to over 2,097 largely-underserved Tribal households, businesses, and community anchor institutions; phased rollout of services is expected to continue into early 2026.
Background and partners: The project is a multi-year effort constrained by permitting delays and rising costs (originally planned to serve nearly 3,000 locations), is being implemented in partnership with Minnesota Broadband Cooperative CTC for ISP services, leverages backbone fiber deployed by Northeast Service Cooperative (NESC), and was funded through the NTIA program created by the IIJA.

Feb 20, 2026

AI data centers threaten economic and environmental integrity of Black communities

The Florida Senate Regulated Industries Committee has passed Senate Bill 484 to place new restrictions on large data centers in the state.

Main action: SB 484 passed the Senate Regulated Industries Committee unanimously during the legislative session; the bill targets large data centers by addressing rate protection, water permitting, local government authority, and public transparency, and explicitly prohibits agencies from entering NDAs that block disclosure of data center impacts to the public.
Background and supporting facts: A viral TikTok by creator Zamor (posted Dec. 29) drew national attention—the video had over 1 million views and 400,000 likes as of February; reporting and research cited include datacenters.com (U.S. >3,000 data centers; Florida = 145), a Bloomberg report (Sept. 2025) that utilities bills rose 267% around AI data centers, and a Southern Environmental Law Center press release alleging xAI operated 35 unpermitted gas turbines, increasing peak NO2 by 79% in surrounding areas.

Feb 19, 2026 · Google

“No technology has me dreaming bigger than AI”

Google announced at the AI Impact Summit 2026 that it will invest in large-scale AI infrastructure in India.

Main announcement: Google unveiled a $15 billion infrastructure investment in India, including a full-stack AI hub in Visakhapatnam (Vizag) that “will house gigawatt-scale compute and a new international subsea cable gateway“, announced by Sundar Pichai at the AI Impact Summit in New Delhi.
Background and other details: The speech referenced additional investments and initiatives: four new subsea cable systems between the U.S. and India (America-India Connect Initiative), investments/activities in Thailand and Malaysia, Google’s claim of having trained 100 million people in digital skills, and launch/availability of the Google AI Professional Certificate globally. The content is an announcement given at the Summit (transcript of Sundar Pichai’s prepared remarks).

Feb 18, 2026

Could Texas Overtake Northern Virginia as the Data Center Capital?

JLL’s latest market analysis reports a structural expansion of the North American data center industry driven by hyperscale and AI demand, with vacancy rates at 1% for the second consecutive year.

Key findings & figures: JLL reports 39 GW active capacity and a 35 GW pipeline across North America, with vacancy at 1%; nearly two-thirds of new capacity is being built outside traditional hubs. Texas has 6.5 GW under construction and could overtake Northern Virginia by 2030; there are >10 developments exceeding 1 GW, rents rose 9% in 2025 (and 60% since 2020), most new leases include annual escalations ≥3%, and tenants are targeting deliveries in 2027 or later.
Power, timelines & market shifts: Hyperscalers (the top five cloud providers) plan $710 billion in 2026 capex supporting ~35 GW global capacity; OpenAI and Anthropic account for ~10 GW of announced projects. The report highlights grid interconnection timelines of 4+ years, utilities-delivered capacity expected late 2028–2029, and developers pursuing behind-the-meter generation, microgrids, phased deployments, and early collaboration with utilities and governments to accelerate delivery.

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