Quarterly report
U.S. data centers in Q1 2026
What changed in the U.S. data center record in Q1 2026: 120 dated changes at 75 tracked projects across 25 states, plus 6 moratorium actions and 4 court cases filed. Every figure below is computed from the Census record and links to its source.
- Changes recorded
- 120
- Projects affected
- 75
- States
- 25
- Moratorium actions
- 6
The quarter in one paragraph
The Census tracked 138 major U.S. data center projects in 35 states as of Sep 22, 2026, with 122.02 GW of published capacity across the projects that publish one. In Q1 2026 we recorded 120 dated changes at 75 projects: 73 rules and votes, 23 court, 19 power and grid, 15 AI buildout. 6 moratorium actions were recorded in 4 states. 2 projects recorded construction starting. 14 projects with activity this quarter now sits cancelled, denied or paused.
Counts describe what was recorded in this tracker during the quarter, from published filings, notices and reports. They are not a measure of everything that happened in the industry.
Where the activity was
| State | Changes | Projects |
|---|---|---|
| Texas | 15 | 10 |
| Michigan | 14 | 6 |
| Georgia | 11 | 6 |
| Indiana | 9 | 6 |
| Wisconsin | 8 | 6 |
| Missouri | 8 | 4 |
| Illinois | 7 | 4 |
| South Carolina | 7 | 4 |
| Ohio | 5 | 4 |
| Virginia | 4 | 4 |
| Pennsylvania | 4 | 4 |
| Kansas | 4 | 1 |
| North Carolina | 3 | 2 |
| Tennessee | 3 | 1 |
| Arizona | 3 | 1 |
What the changes were about
| Topic | Changes |
|---|---|
| Rules & votes | 73 |
| Courts | 23 |
| Power & grid | 19 |
| AI buildout | 15 |
Topics overlap: one vote on a power agreement counts in both categories.
Largest projects with activity in Q1 2026
| Project | Status | Capacity | Latest change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fermi America Project Matador Amarillo, Carson County, TX | Under construction | 17 GW | Mar 27, 2026 — Fermi America files a second 5 GW clean air permit application with TCEQ |
| PORTS-Pike Technology Campus Piketon, Pike County, OH | Under construction | 10 GW | Mar 20, 2026 — DOE, SoftBank and SB Energy announce 10 GW data center campus and 9.2 GW gas generation at the Portsmouth site |
| Meta Hyperion Holly Ridge, Richland Parish, LA | Under construction | 5 GW | Feb 25, 2026 — LPSC declines to investigate Meta's financing arrangement with Blue Owl Capital for the data center |
| Comanche Circle Tolar, Hood County, TX | Approved | 5 GW | Feb 10, 2026 — Commissioners reject six-month moratorium 3-2 |
| Homer City Energy Campus Homer City, Indiana County, PA | Under construction | 4.4 GW | Mar 23, 2026 — Environmental Hearing Board denies Homer City Generation's motion to consolidate the two permit appeals |
| Project Tembo Cheyenne, Laramie County, WY | Approved | 2.7 GW | Jan 6, 2026 — Laramie County commissioners unanimously approve the Project Jade site plans |
| Project Phoenix Shippingport, Beaver County, PA | Under construction | 2 GW | Feb 3, 2026 — DCD reports Aligned plans natural gas-powered data center buildings at the 660-acre Shippingport Industrial Park owned by Frontier Group of Companies |
| Project Horizon Fort Stockton, Pecos County, TX | Proposed | 2 GW | Jan 12, 2026 — Pecos County Commissioners Court agenda includes a tax abatement agreement with CoreWeave, LLC within the Longfellow Renewable Energy Reinvestment Zone |
| Joliet Technology Center Joliet, Will County, IL | Approved | 1.8 GW | Mar 19, 2026 — City Council approves project 8-1 (Councilwoman Suzanna Ibarra dissenting) |
| Project Cardinal Data Center Campus Yorkville, Kendall County, IL | Approved | 1.8 GW | Mar 11, 2026 — City Council vote at 12:51 a.m. after a meeting that began at 7 p.m. March 10 |
Moratorium actions in Q1 2026
| Jurisdiction | Action | Length | What the source says |
|---|---|---|---|
| Carroll County Georgia · county |
Adopted Mar 2026 |
100 days | Permits related to data centers and other new technology. Times-GeorgianSource excerpt“The commissioners initially approved a 100-day moratorium on permits related to data centers and other new technology at the board's March 3 meeting.” |
| Hood County Texas · county |
Rejected Feb 2026 |
six months | Proposed six-month moratorium on new industrial permits, including data centers and factories. KERA NewsSource excerpt“the six-month moratorium on new industrial permits, including data centers and factories, 3-2” |
| Hood County Texas · county |
Rejected Feb 2026 |
— | Proposal would have temporarily halted new large-scale development while county leaders studied impacts on water, infrastructure and public health; per the headline, the county instead sought an attorney general's opinion on its authority. KERA NewsSource excerpt“temporarily halted new large-scale development while county leaders studied potential impacts on water, infrastructure and public health” |
| Solon Township Michigan · township |
Adopted Feb 2026 |
six months | Acceptance of any data center proposals by the township. FOX 17Source excerpt“prevent the township from accepting any data center proposals during that period” |
| Fulton County Indiana · county |
Adopted Mar 2026 |
one year | Data center construction in the county, effective immediately. WNDUSource excerpt“Fulton County commissioners voted 2-1 on Monday night to approve a one-year moratorium on data center construction, effective immediately.” |
| Dearborn County Indiana · county |
Adopted Feb 2026 |
— | Processing of rezoning applications for commercial solar, battery storage facilities and data centers. WVXUSource excerpt“The Dearborn County Board of Commissioners voted Tuesday to approve a moratorium on the processing of rezoning applications for commercial solar, battery storage facilities and data centers.” |
Court cases filed in Q1 2026
| Case | Project | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Crosby and Singleton v. Colleton County South Carolina state court, Colleton County · filed Jan 9, 2026 | Project Boulder | pending |
| Arizona Attorney General appeal of Arizona Corporation Commission approval of TEP–Beale energy supply agreement Maricopa County Superior Court · filed Feb 19, 2026 | Project Blue | pending |
| Preserve Montgomery County v. Montgomery County and Missouri Department of Economic Development Cole County Circuit Court · filed Feb 2026 | AWS Project Green | pending |
| Gregory P. Guido Jr. petition for judicial review (Pumpkin Center rezoning) Columbia County Superior Court; appeal to Georgia Court of Appeals · filed Feb 25, 2026 | Pumpkin Technology Campus | appealed |
How this report is made
Everything above is generated from the Census dataset at build time: the dated events, project records, moratorium entries and court cases, each of which was recorded from a published source that is linked on the project or tracker page. Nothing is estimated or modeled. Because the record grows as projects are researched, a quarter’s counts can rise after the fact; the report is regenerated on every publish, and the date below is the current one.
Reporters and researchers are welcome to use these figures. The underlying data is downloadable as JSON, CSV and GeoJSON, and the press kit has the standing numbers, wording and contact details.
Cite this page
Last updated Sep 22, 2026. Figures may change as records are updated — include the date you retrieved them.
| APA | Data Center Census. (2026). U.S. data centers in Q1 2026: quarterly data report. Retrieved from https://datacentercensus.com/reports/2026-q1 |
|---|---|
| MLA | “U.S. data centers in Q1 2026: quarterly data report.” Data Center Census, Sep 22, 2026, https://datacentercensus.com/reports/2026-q1. |
| Link | https://datacentercensus.com/reports/2026-q1 |
Republishing a figure or table? Attribute it to Data Center Census with a link to this page. The underlying data is downloadable as JSON and CSV; the press kit has standing figures and contact details.