Data Centre Watch Updated 24 October 2026, 13:03 UTC
Data Centre Watch
The local fight over one field is one row in a national rush. This is a rolling, fully sourced record of what changed — the schemes, the planning decisions, the power and water, and the wider world picture.
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Under a hosepipe ban for 107 days — since 10 July 2026 (as of 24 October 2026).
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Latest
38 entries matching · showing 16–30
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Texas freezes data-centre permits for a state-wide audit
Governor Greg Abbott's state-wide audit of data centres has frozen new TCEQ environmental permits and paused ERCOT's 'Batch Zero' interconnection approvals, with the review due to conclude by 10 December 2026. It covers water sourcing, reliance on grid power versus self-generation, use of financial assistance, and community-impact mitigation (noise, light). Fitch says rated Texas projects are largely insulated — but credit risk rises if the freeze extends and delays rent commencement.
Why it matters: A US state pausing permissions to count what it is actually approving — the audit-as-brake move the UK keeps flirting with.
Source: Fitch Ratings [C]
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Israel moves to cap new data centres at 200MW
Israel's Electricity Authority is preparing rules to limit any new data centre to 200MW, with a draft out for consultation this week. Developers have requested around 27,000MW of grid connections against 18,800MW of installed generation, and the authority projects data centres could reach about 20% of national electricity consumption by 2030.
Why it matters: A small grid doing the arithmetic first — capping the size of the load to protect the system.
Source: Calcalist / Ctech [C]
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FERC approves a PJM data-centre database — but rejects its whole framework
FERC approved PJM's plan to build a data-centre database across its footprint — location, power provider, in-service date, load ramp-up and backup generation/fuel — to sharpen grid planning. But it rejected most of PJM's wider framework, including its bring-your-own-capacity and curtailment provisions, as exceeding the grid operator's authority and discriminating against large loads. Within days, PJM issued a maximum-generation alert as warm weather strained the system, and the DOE authorised emergency measures; PJM-area power prices are set to rise more than 60%.
Why it matters: A grid operator wants the data before it plans — but the regulator won't let it switch the load off or force it to build its own power.
Source: Bisnow / DCD [C]
Changes (2)
- — Broadened: FERC rejected most of PJM's framework (its bring-your-own-capacity and curtailment provisions) as exceeding its authority; added PJM's Monday maximum-generation alert, DOE emergency measures, and the >60% price rise.
- — First filed.
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PJM to study SoftBank's ~10GW Ohio 'Flagship' under a state agreement approach
PJM has filed a study agreement at FERC to assess SoftBank's ~10GW 'Flagship' AI data-centre complex on federal land in Ohio under a 'state agreement approach' — roughly 9.6GW of new load plus 10.2GW of gas generation built in phases to 2032, with three 765kV transmission lines by AEP Ohio. An initial 800MW phase is served under AEP Ohio's data-centre tariff.
Why it matters: Gigawatt load and gigawatt gas, studied together as one transmission project — the grid's new unit of account.
Source: Utility Dive [C]
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FOI: OpenAI and Nscale never visited the UK's flagship 'Stargate' site
Freedom-of-information documents show neither OpenAI nor its partner Nscale met North Tyneside or North East officials before the government unveiled the Cobalt Park 'Stargate UK' data centre during Trump's September 2025 state visit; only Nvidia visited, five months later, and no grid connection was identified for the touted 1.1GW. (The FOI findings were first reported in July 2026.) The project was paused in April 2026; the government says a taskforce is still overseeing up to 400MW by 2028.
Why it matters: The gap between an announcement and a project — and what FOI reveals about the flagship AI-growth case.
Source: Computing / Guardian FOI [C]
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Oregon pauses environmental permits for new data centres
Governor Tina Kotek ordered the state's environmental regulator to stop approving new air- and water-pollution permits for data centres until next July — an effective moratorium on new builds and expansions, following a year-long pause on state land. It could hit Amazon's proposed Boardman hyperscale site; Amazon calls the move abrupt and says it will cost thousands of jobs.
Why it matters: A US state braking the build-out through pollution permits, not planning — the same lever the UK debate keeps reaching for.
Source: KOIN / Oregon Capital Chronicle [C]
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Thailand approves 750bn baht of data centres — and tightens screening
Thailand's Board of Investment has approved 42 data-centre projects worth 750bn baht (2024–26) under a new four-pillar screening framework covering national benefit, energy security, water and environment; Gulf Development separately plans $4.3bn to reach 2GW, with Microsoft, Google Cloud and Singtel. It has now paused approvals on 166 projects pending the new standards, against a US$15.9bn investment boom, with US$3.1bn of further projects just approved. Google has confirmed a $1bn data centre at Chonburi plus a Bangkok cloud region (projected ~14,000 jobs a year to 2029), and Microsoft has opened its first Thai regional data centre.
Why it matters: Countries are racing for the investment and, at the same time, writing the rules to manage its power and water.
Source: Thai Times [C]
Changes (2)
- — Added the pause on approvals for 166 projects, the US$15.9bn boom, US$3.1bn of further approvals, and the Google/Microsoft commitments.
- — First filed.
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Big Tech promises its AI data centres will ride out grid faults
Google, Meta, Microsoft and Nvidia published a grid-interface specification through the Open Compute Project: during a voltage dip a site's compute load (about 70–90% of its draw) must stay connected and climb back to 90% within two seconds, rather than dropping off and shocking the grid. It follows events in which 1,500MW and more shed in an instant (2024, and a larger one on 22 July 2026). Cooling is excluded and the commitments are voluntary.
Why it matters: AI data centres are now big enough to destabilise the grid everyone shares — and the industry is writing its own rules before regulators do.
Source: madrobot / OCP [C]
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The UK's AI data-centre energy council has been left unconvened
The council set up to coordinate electricity for AI data centres has not met under the new Downing Street leadership, leaving developers and investors without a clear route to raise grid concerns. Officials are said to favour localised planning over a dedicated coordination body.
Why it matters: The one body meant to join up power and compute for AI has gone quiet — so who decides where the gigawatts go?
Source: Distilled Post [C]
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SNP moves to freeze new datacentres in Scotland
An SNP national council motion calls for a moratorium on all new datacentres in Scotland, potentially covering projects without planning permission. It says the 24 hyperscale schemes in planning would together use more than one-and-a-half times Scotland's peak power demand.
Why it matters: The country positioned as the UK's AI powerhouse is debating hitting pause — the campaign's 'assess it first' argument, at national scale.
Source: DailySynapse [C]
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PJM gets emergency power to curtail data centres in a heatwave
The US grid operator for 13 states won emergency DOE approval to cut power to data centres and large loads that have backup generation during a record heatwave, with demand forecast near 166GW.
Why it matters: The grid is now formally allowed to switch big AI loads off — the 'always-on' assumption, ended.
Source: bbvk.org [C]
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Green Party: strip data centres of automatic 'critical infrastructure' status
The Green Party wants data centres to lose their automatic Critical National Infrastructure classification, with tighter planning rules, full community consultation, brownfield-first siting near renewables, and audited annual water and electricity figures. CPRE adds that 100+ schemes are in the pipeline with no government body tracking them.
Why it matters: The 'national need' that overrides local plans is now being challenged at the level of the label itself.
Source: Armason weekly [C]
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Texas freezes new data-centre permits as its queue hits 474GW
ERCOT has frozen all new data-centre permits after its interconnection queue swelled to 474GW — about 90% of it data centres. Only 28 of 377 data-centre firms answered a state water-use survey, and Amazon's colocation plan with Talen's nuclear plant was rejected.
Why it matters: The state that sold itself on cheap power and light regulation has paused the queue — and most operators won't even answer the survey.
Source: SaaS News [C]
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US utilities make data centres pay before the power flows
A Duke Energy settlement filed 6 Oct — signed by Amazon, Google, Meta and Microsoft — sets a 75% minimum bill for 15 years plus security for large loads; Texas now asks $50,000/MW before study. The utility gets paid first, whether or not the halls fill.
Why it matters: Who carries the risk when a data centre is built and never filled? The rules are hardening toward the utility.
Source: sotkn analysis / Duke filing [V]
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Campaigners urge binding resource limits for Scotland's data centres
The Foundation for Gaia wrote to the Scottish Government arguing individual decisions cannot address cumulative impacts — it counts 24 major proposals (~6GW) in or near the planning system — and calling for binding limits, mandatory audited water/power/emissions reporting, no drinking water for cooling, and collective assessment by grid connection, catchment and council area.
Why it matters: The 'assess the whole, not the parts' argument — the same gap we push on water, put to a national government.
Source: Envirotec / Foundation for Gaia [C]
Watchlist — what lands next
| What | State | When |
|---|---|---|
| Data-centre National Policy Statement (NPS) | Still unpublished; projects already being directed into the NSIP regime without it. | Expected 'shortly after' the Jan 2026 regulations |
| Ofgem 'Curate' data-centre connection reform | Consultation closed 17 Sep 2026; decision pending — commitment fee £237,500–£712,500/MW. | Decision later in 2026 |
| Scotland — hyperscale planning guidance | Parliament agreed no decisions on hyperscale applications until guidance is published. | Guidance expected by December 2026 |
| Draft London Plan — data-centre policy GLE3 | Consultation closed 15 October 2026; responses under consideration. | Next draft / adoption pending |
| National Scheme of Delegation for planning functions (SI 2026/854) | Standardises which applications go to officers vs committee; non-compliant committee decisions open to judicial review. | In force 31 October 2026 |
| EU data-centre standards and rating scheme | Commission has adopted a data-centre sustainability rating scheme; consultation on minimum performance standards remains open. | Consultation closes 14 December 2026 |
| Environmental Audit Committee report (HC 22) | Inquiry 'Risks and opportunities to the sustainability of data centres in the UK'; report + government response due. | Awaiting publication |
| Three Rivers Local Plan examination | Plan submitted; examination in H1 2027, adoption targeted Sep 2027. | Submission 30 November 2026 |
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Fully sourced, no invented numbers
Every entry names its source and how it is known — verified, a designated claim, our calculation, or a gap. Where a claim is contested, we say so. See all reports & explainers →