Technology

WHEN THE DATA CENTER COMES.

By charles duggan

Go to stand

Published: Oct 12, 2026
Updated: Oct 14, 2026
Pages: 12
Language: English

More in this magazine

AS IT TURNS OUTISSUE 01 THE DATA CENTER BOOM
AS IT TURNS OUT — ISSUE 01 (REVISION 01)CONTENTS Editor's Letter
EDITOR'S LETTEREditor's Letter A boom is reshaping land, power and local economies faster than regulation can track.
DATA & DEMANDTHE FORECAST GAP Illustrative estimates charting the widening distance between projected data center electricity demand and utility grid capacity through 2030.
Page 5A residential street backs up to data center campuses in eastern Loudoun County, where housing and server farms now sit side by side. DATA CENTER ALLEY
INFRASTRUCTUREInside the Buildout How a hyperscale data center campus actually gets built — from site selection through permitting, power interconnection, water cooling infrastructure, and construction execution. The physical anatomy of the buildout that reshapes regional land use and grid demand.
Page 7The stated purpose is to help assign certain costs to the customers whose needs cause them. [L07/LE07] That is evidence of a regulatory mechanism. It is not evidence that a particular residential bill has already gone up, gone down, or been fully insulated from every effect of new demand.
POLICY & POWERWho Pays for the Grid As data centers multiply, utilities and consumer advocates are at odds over who should cover the cost of the transmission lines and substations needed to serve them.
THE STATUS WORDS THAT CHANGE THE STORYREQUESTED UNDER REVIEW
ACCOUNTABILITYThe Accountability Tool Five questions residents, journalists and local officials can put to data center developers and utilities before the next approval vote.
ON THE RECORDInfrastructure decisions made quietly today will shape electricity costs and land use for a generation. AS IT TURNS OUT — ISSUE 01
AS IT TURNS OUTAs It Turns Out is a quarterly investigation into the systems that quietly shape modern life — the land, power, and policy decisions made far from public view but close to every bill we pay. Next issue: beneath the servers. We turn to the water powering the boom, tracing how hyperscale cooling systems are reshaping regional water supplies, utility contracts, and the communities that depend on both.

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ACCOUNTABILITY

The Accountability Tool

Five questions residents, journalists and local officials can put to data center developers and utilities before the next approval vote.

AS IT TURNS OUT RESEARCH DESK

1. What is the facility's projected water use, and where will that water come from?

Ask for disclosure of expected daily water withdrawal for cooling, the source — municipal supply, groundwater, or reclaimed water — and whether usage figures will be reported publicly on a recurring basis, according to utility planners interviewed for this issue.

2. What are the exact terms of any tax abatement or incentive package?

Request the duration, dollar value and performance conditions attached to any local tax abatement, and whether the agreement includes clawback provisions if promised jobs or investment levels are not met, as recommended by municipal finance officials.

3. Who pays for the grid upgrades this facility requires?

Ask whether new transmission lines or substation capacity triggered by the project will be billed to the developer, spread across the general ratepayer base, or shared under a cost-allocation formula, and request that formula in writing from the utility.