Emerging Data Center Markets in the U.S.: Where Growth Is Moving and Why

For most of the last two decades, U.S. data center growth concentrated in a handful of metros: Northern Virginia, Dallas–Fort Worth, Silicon Valley, Chicago, Phoenix and Atlanta. Those major markets still hold most operating capacity, but new construction has shifted. JLL’s midyear 2026 report found that about 77% of capacity under construction in North America is in what it calls frontier markets, with more than 66 GW under construction in total.¹

JLL names West Texas as the largest beneficiary, followed by Ohio, Louisiana, Indiana and the Carolinas.¹³ CBRE’s research points the same way, noting that emerging markets such as West Texas and Indiana are gaining attention for energy abundance, lower costs and location.⁷ Among the established metros, Atlanta has been the standout, becoming North America’s most active construction market in the first half of 2026.⁷

The state totals show how far the center of gravity has moved. JLL counts about 26 GW of existing and under-construction capacity in Texas, roughly double Virginia’s 13 GW, even though Northern Virginia remains the largest single metro.¹

“Emerging” here does not mean small. Several frontier projects are single campuses planned at a gigawatt or more, larger than the entire inventory of some established metros. Our guide to near-metro vs. remote power-rich sites covers the trade-off from a single-site view.

The industry’s focus has moved from securing land to securing deliverable power. Cushman & Wakefield’s 2026 global data center comparison, which scores 107 markets on 24 variables, found that average power delivery timelines for new large-load requests are about 4.4 years, and that developers are responding by pursuing powered land, adding private generation and moving into secondary and tertiary markets where infrastructure constraints may be less severe.²

In mature hubs the bottleneck is usually transmission and substation capacity, plus queues of competing requests. In frontier markets the grid is often thinner, but the utility may be able to plan new generation and transmission around one large customer. That is the pattern behind several of the largest projects now under way, and it is why these markets cluster where a utility has both the appetite and the regulatory path to build. Our guides to regulated vs. competitive market sites and onsite generation and natural gas explain the two main routes.

Land and cost also play a role. Cushman & Wakefield’s 2025 global comparison found that land costs in the Americas are lower overall but that competition in top-tier markets has pushed prices up, and that affordable Midwestern markets such as Indianapolis and Iowa are drawing spillover demand from more expensive neighbors.⁸

West Texas: Abilene

The Stargate campus in Abilene, developed by Crusoe and leased to Oracle and OpenAI, was planned at about 1.2 GW across roughly 4 million square feet, with completion of the full campus expected by mid-2026. The first two buildings went live in September 2025 with more than 200 MW of IT capacity.⁹ A proposed expansion beyond that was questioned in 2026, a reminder that announced capacity at frontier sites can change.¹⁰ Texas sites sit in ERCOT, which now has its own large-load rules.

Louisiana: Richland Parish

In 2025 the Louisiana Public Service Commission approved Entergy’s plan to build three gas-fired plants to serve Meta’s data center campus in Richland Parish, a project reported at about 2 GW.⁴ Two of the plants are in Richland Parish itself, so the campus is effectively paired with new generation built for it.⁴ In March 2026 Meta and Entergy announced seven more plants, bringing the order to 10, more than triple the original; the new plants still need commission approval.¹¹ See our Louisiana guide.

Northern Indiana

Amazon Web Services announced an $11 billion data center campus in northern Indiana in 2024.¹² Indiana Michigan Power has told regulators it expects its Indiana peak load to rise from about 2,800 MW to more than 7,000 MW by 2030, driven by new large loads.¹³ See our Indiana guide.

Utilities in fast-growing markets have responded to speculative requests by asking large loads to commit. In July 2025 the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio approved AEP Ohio’s data center tariff, which requires large new data center customers to pay for at least 85% of their subscribed capacity for up to 12 years, including a ramp period of up to four years, and to show financial viability.⁵ The order also set exit fees for customers that leave early.⁵ AEP Ohio had paused new data center service agreements in central Ohio while the case was pending, and the order set out a path to end that pause.⁵ For anyone holding land in the Columbus region, the result was a clearer, but more expensive, route to service.

Indiana regulators approved a large-load settlement for Indiana Michigan Power that applies to customers with at least 70 MW at one site or 150 MW in aggregate, with a minimum contract term of 12 years.¹³ Similar frameworks are spreading, so in an emerging market the question is not only whether power exists but what it will cost to reserve it.

Our guide to large-load tariffs and electric service agreements covers how these terms are negotiated.

Tax incentives helped many emerging markets compete, and Atlanta’s growth is often attributed partly to them.⁷ But the cost of those programs has drawn scrutiny. Ohio’s data center sales tax exemption cost about $1.57 billion in 2025, against a forecast of $135.8 million, according to reporting on the state’s figures.⁶ In May 2026 Gov. Mike DeWine directed the state’s Tax Credit Authority to stop accepting new data center tax exemption proposals while a legislative committee studies the industry.¹⁴

Pushback is not limited to taxes. In August 2026 Arizona’s attorney general asked state lawmakers and the governor for a statewide pause on new data center construction, citing water and energy concerns.¹⁵ Growth markets tend to attract this kind of scrutiny once projects become visible. Track state data center legislation and local moratoriums before relying on an incentive, and see incentives vs. power cost trade-offs for how to weigh them.

A market label is a starting point. What matters is whether a specific parcel can be served on a schedule a tenant will accept, under terms the project can carry.

1. 01Confirm the serving utility and ask about transmission and substation capacity near the parcel.
2. 02Read the utility’s large-load tariff: minimum demand, contract term, collateral and exit fees.⁵¹³
3. 03Check fiber routes, water supply and the labor pool within commuting distance.
4. 04Review state incentives, and whether they are being reconsidered.¹⁴
5. 05Check county zoning and any pending moratorium or ordinance.

Our site selection criteria guide lists the full set of factors. If you hold land in a growth area and want an independent read, you can get a site reviewed.