Wisconsin Data Center News

Mar 3, 2026

New Data Center Developments: March 2026

DataCenterKnowledge published a monthly roundup of global data center developments covering design, construction, power, and investment across North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and Middle East & Africa.

Overview and key highlights: The roundup summarizes region-by-region developments including major deals and investment figures: S&P reported $69 billion+ in total deal value in 2025 with a $40 billion Aligned Data Centers acquisition; Google’s $15 billion America-India Connect initiative; Adani’s $100 billion AI infrastructure pledge targeting 5 GW by 2035; and a €176 billion (≈$208 billion) European investment forecast for 2026–2031. It also details project specifics such as Meta’s $10 billion, 1 GW Indiana campus and Microsoft’s 15 data centers proposal at the former Foxconn site with a taxable construction value over $13 billion.
Additional context and deal/implementation notes: The article lists announced partnerships, approvals, and timelines: Equinix & CPP bought atNorth for $4 billion (with a $4.2 billion financing package); Mistral AI & EcoDataCenter plan a $1.4 billion Sweden AI-focused facility launching in 2027; CyrusOne‘s FRA7 first facility topping out (~$1.2 billion regional investment); G42’s Framework Cooperation Agreement in Southeast Asia backed by consumption commitments up to $1 billion. It also reports regulatory actions (NRC/Atomic Safety and Licensing Board intervention on an SMR proposal) and lists concrete project locations and capacity targets (MW/GW) where given.

Mar 2, 2026

Land and Expand: Early 2026 Megaprojects Reflect a Power-First Ethos

Data Center Frontier reports multiple developers advancing power-first, land-and-expand AI-ready data center campuses in early 2026.

Main announcement/action: Developers including Applied Digital (Delta Forge 1), Vantage (Lighthouse), AVAIO Digital (Little Rock), Rowan (Project Temple), Crow Holdings (Dallas) and Amazon (northwest Louisiana) are advancing large-scale projects that pair land banking with secured power and infrastructure commitments; examples include Applied Digital’s 430 MW Delta Forge 1 (two 150 MW facilities on 500+ acres, first operations targeted 2027) and Vantage’s $15B+ Lighthouse (four hyperscale data centers delivering nearly 902 MW IT load on ~672 acres, construction through 2028).
Background and details: Projects feature explicit infrastructure co-investments and timelines: Amazon’s $12 billion Louisiana buildout includes up to $400 million for regional water improvements and 100% developer-funded electric infrastructure; AVAIO’s $6 billion Little Rock hub has a 150 MW Entergy Arkansas commitment with potential to scale toward 1 GW, and Rowan’s Project Temple (300 MW, ~700 acres) targets initial operations in 2027 with ~$700 million local investment and unanimous local approvals.

Feb 25, 2026

US Roundup: FlexGen updates EMS, LandGate’s BESS site selection tool, ON.Energy-Shoals target data centres, Sunrun’s season of VPP dispatching

Energy-Storage.news reports a roundup of recent industry announcements from FlexGen, LandGate, ON.energy & Shoals, and Sunrun.

FlexGen announced an updated HybridOS EMS with a new user interface, real-time and historical data, integrated market prices, mobile app access, an augmentation prediction and diagnostics dashboard, charge limit handler, and native CAN support; LandGate launched its Battery Storage Analysis tool to produce automated ‘Battery Storage Due Diligence Reports’ and assess interconnection, arbitrage, queue competition and environmental risks; ON.energy and Shoals agreed to deploy multiple GWs of critical power systems pairing ON.energy’s medium-voltage AI UPS with Shoals’ DC Recombiner; Sunrun completed a VPP dispatch season with PG&E totaling more than 1,200 dispatch hours across over 1,000 customers, with participants earning US$150 per battery.
Background and supporting details: FlexGen completed its acquisition of most assets and IP from Powin in August 2025 and supports over 25GWh of BESS across 10 countries; FlexGen recently put two utility-scale BESS totalling 700MWh into operation in Wisconsin and Iowa; ON.energy previously announced a 5GW transformer supply agreement with Prolec GE (late 2025); Sunrun’s Local PeakShift Power VPP operated as part of PG&E’s SAVE program (tests April–June 2025; dispatched July–October 2025); the article also references interconnection reform discussions and noise/permitting issues for BESS projects (Idaho Power case, Wärtsilä commentary).

Feb 24, 2026

How Data Centers Are Transforming Waste Heat Into Efficiency Gains

atNorth has announced integration of its DEN01 data center with Vestforbrænding’s district heating to supply waste heat to local homes and businesses.

Main announcement: atNorth’s DEN01 will provide 22.5 MW of capacity using direct liquid cooling (DLC), target a PUE < 1.2, and will feed excess warm-water (DLC byproduct) via a heat pump installed and operated by Vestforbrændingen / Vestforbrænding to heat over 8,000 homes; atNorth also has sites under construction in Kouvola (Finland) and Ølgod (Denmark) and land secured for a 200-500 MW campus in Sweden.
Background and other details: MSOE’s Rosie uses two Nvidia DGX H100s and integrates waste heat into building HVAC; the National Laboratory of the Rockies’ ESIF pairs a 10 MW supercomputer with warm-water liquid cooling to achieve PUE 1.04 and SmithGroup-designed EMAPS can use up to 3 MW of waste heat; suppliers/technologies mentioned include heat pumps, thermal energy storage (Novacab 5 by TESS Energy Solutions / SPCMs) and ongoing pilot implementations.

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 19, 2026

Alliant Energy announces 2025 results

Alliant Energy Corporation announced its consolidated 2025 financial results and reaffirmed 2026 ongoing earnings guidance.

Main announcement: Alliant Energy reported GAAP EPS of $3.14 in 2025 (vs $2.69 in 2024) and ongoing EPS of $3.22 in 2025 (vs $3.04 in 2024, 6% growth), and affirmed 2026 ongoing EPS guidance of $3.36 - $3.46. This is presented as an earnings/press release on the company’s investor site.
Background and other details: The company stated it renegotiated an electric service agreement with QTS tied to a new project location and referenced its two regulated utilities, Interstate Power and Light Company (IPL) and Wisconsin Power and Light Company (WPL); contact info for media relations and a link to the full investor news release were provided.

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.

Feb 17, 2026

Designing Data Centers for the Communities and Natural Environments Where We Operate

Oracle commits to community-centered design and environmental protections for its AI data center projects.

Main announcement/action: Oracle will design and build AI data centers with community and environmental protections including closed-loop, non-evaporative cooling systems, commitments to preserve and enhance on-site land, reduced light and noise impacts, and a financial commitment of $50 million to modernize Doña Ana County’s water system. Oracle also states it will fund any electrical infrastructure upgrades required to service its campuses (not ratepayers), and that daily potable water use at its sites will be similar to a typical office building.
Details and site-specific facts:
- Port Washington, Wisconsin: 672-acre site; 172 acres to be preserved/enhanced; planting more than 2,000 native trees; supporting the Valley Creek Corridor Revitalization Project to restore/protect waterways.
- Saline Township, Michigan:Three-quarters of the site to remain farmland, wetlands, and open space; buildings sit below road level; sensor-controlled, downward-facing lighting; site noise ~55 decibels at the property line; new stormwater systems will reduce runoff into the Saline River to below current levels.
- Doña Ana County, New Mexico: closed-loop cooling initial fill will use non-potable water drawn from existing commercial water rights (not community drinking water); $50 million committed to modernize the county water system.
- Abilene, Texas: data center will utilize excess, low-cost wind energy from the local grid to help stabilize utilization.

Feb 9, 2026

Closed-loop cooling in Oracle AI data centers

Oracle announces it will deploy direct-to-chip, closed-loop, non-evaporative cooling systems at its upcoming AI data centers in New Mexico, Michigan, Texas, and Wisconsin.

Main announcement: Oracle will use direct-to-chip, closed-loop, non-evaporative cooling systems at AI data centers in New Mexico, Michigan, Texas, and Wisconsin, designed to remove heat at the server/processor level and avoid continuous consumption of potable water. The design circulates cooling fluid in sealed piping so day-to-day cooling does not depend on adding water.
Background and technical details: The cooling loop is initially filled using water delivered via tankers and then operates as a sealed, recirculating system with rare top-offs under abnormal conditions; ongoing daily water use for cooling is stated as effectively zero, and the article cites an Uptime Institute benchmark that conventional evaporative systems can use on the order of millions of gallons per year per megawatt of IT load.

Feb 9, 2026

Refrigeración de bucle cerrado en centros de datos de Oracle AI

Oracle announces it will implement closed-loop, non-evaporative, direct-to-chip cooling in its new AI data centers in several U.S. states.

Main announcement: Oracle will deploy closed-loop, non-evaporative, direct-to-chip cooling in AI data centers in New Mexico, Michigan, Texas and Wisconsin; the systems are filled initially via tanker trucks and then operate as a sealed recirculation system, so daily cooling does not consume community potable water.
Background and details: The article cites an Uptime Institute estimate that conventional evaporative cooling can use on the order of millions of liters per MW per year; Oracle states that replenishment of coolant is rare and only for abnormal conditions, and that routine water use at the sites is limited to typical office occupancy needs. Oracle also notes local investments including hiring local staff, partnerships with colleges, and funding for infrastructure.

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