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.
days under a hosepipe ban
Under a hosepipe ban for 107 days — since 10 July 2026 (as of 24 October 2026).
Affinity Water — Central region (incl. WD5), extended to the East region
11 areas in drought, parts of 4 in severe · reservoirs 54% · the water picture →
Latest
151 entries · showing 121–135
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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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Entergy warns AWS of peak-time disconnections in Mississippi
Entergy Mississippi told AWS its Jackson-area data centres could be disconnected at peak demand — reported as the first formal interruptible-service notice to a hyperscaler. AWS built 'Project Falcon', an automated switch from grid to backup generation, in response.
Why it matters: The grid can't always carry the load — even for the largest operators, on the hottest days.
Source: TokenPost [C]
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India's grid strains as AI data-centre demand surges
Regional power committees are weighing data-centre load, upgrade costs and the risk of 'abrupt load rejection' as operators bulk-buy electricity; transmission upgrades are running into cost and right-of-way delays.
Why it matters: The same grid-and-water squeeze as the UK, arriving at gigawatt scale in a different system.
Source: The Hindu [C]
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Oracle trucks in gas to keep data centres on schedule
With pipelines delayed, Oracle has compressed natural gas delivered by truck: it kept a Salt Lake City-area site running for over a year, is doing the same at its OpenAI campus in Shackelford County, Texas, and is weighing it for the 2.45GW Project Jupiter in New Mexico — where it has already sent a force-majeure notice.
Why it matters: When the grid and the pipes can't reach the site, the fuel arrives by road — the lengths the build-out will go to.
Source: Bloomberg via Quartz / DCD [C]
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A UK firm pitches 'election-grade' data to defeat planning opposition
Amphio Technologies, a US-funded UK company incorporated in August 2026, is offering developers mass public-opinion measurement 'modelled down to individual neighbourhoods' — election-style intelligence aimed at defeating data-centre and infrastructure opposition. Founder James Yucel (previously real-estate private equity, the Onward think tank and Focaldata) points to opposition groups doubling to 833 across 49 US states in early 2026 and a May 2026 Gallup poll in which 71% opposed a data centre near their home.
Why it matters: The counter-offensive: developers are buying the same machinery that wins elections — worth knowing that some planning arguments are being engineered, not just made.
Source: Green Street News / Amphio [C]
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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]
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Cato's 600MW campus meets a 1,000-year-old castle
Remains of Hallyards Castle sit on land earmarked for ILI Energy's 600MW Cato data centre. Historic Environment Scotland declined a new designation because the application is already in train, and a full Environmental Impact Assessment has been directed.
Why it matters: Heritage and farmland now sit alongside the climate and grid questions — the same collision, again.
Source: DataCentral [V]
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US bill would make data centres pay the full grid bill
A bipartisan Senate permitting package would require data centres of 20MW+ to pay both existing and incremental grid costs, let regulators charge more (and cut other bills with the excess), and require financial guarantees before utilities build to serve them.
Why it matters: The most aggressive US move yet to stop other customers footing the bill for AI's power.
Source: Axios [V]
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US Senate investigation challenges Big Tech's data-centre case
A year-long Senate probe (Warren, Van Hollen, Blumenthal) of seven major developers found routine NDAs restricting scrutiny of public deals, sales-tax exemptions as the real subsidy, and permanent staffing of roughly one worker per megawatt — while none would commit to paying for the grid upgrades they drive.
Why it matters: The 'jobs and growth' case for data centres, tested by subpoena — and the ratepayer question at its centre.
Source: TIME [V]
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Fawley Waterside: a 1.5M sq ft campus with data centres on a former power station
On the former Fawley Power Station site near Southampton, Fawley Waterside is proposing a 1.5M sq ft industrial and commercial campus combining energy, digital, maritime and commercial uses — with data centres and advanced computing among the potential digital occupants.
Why it matters: Another retired power station pitched as a home for compute — the land-and-grid logic, again.
Source: Bisnow [C]
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Singapore licenses data centres for resilience and efficiency
Singapore's parliament passed the Digital Infrastructure Bill (first read 8 September, passed 7 October), creating two licensing regimes: a foundational digital infrastructure licence for data centres and cloud providers with at least 10MW of critical IT load or S$100m of Singapore revenue, and a data-centre licence for sites of at least 3MW that must meet energy-efficiency standards (with possible water-efficiency rules). About two-thirds of Singapore's ~70 data centres are caught, penalties run to S$1m or 10% of turnover, and the Act comes into force in stages from 2027.
Why it matters: A regulator licensing data centres for resilience and efficiency at once — closer to what the UK debate keeps circling.
Source: MDDI / Business Times [C]
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Redhill data centre approved on condition it tries to heat nearby homes
Reigate & Banstead approved Castleforge/Galaxy's two-storey data centre at Foxboro Business Park only on condition (25) that a waste-heat export feasibility study for the adjacent Park 25 heat network is done before construction — and, if viable, connected from first operation. The study is due this November. Councillors pushed to strengthen the condition because the current one stops short of a guaranteed commitment.
Why it matters: A real planning test of whether waste heat goes to homes — not just a promise in a brochure.
Source: Inside Housing / Reigate & Banstead [C]
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Iren hands Microsoft the first 50MW phase at Childress
Under a five-year, $9.7bn agreement, Iren delivered 'Horizon 1' — the first of four 50MW liquid-cooled phases, building to 200MW for Microsoft.
Why it matters: Hyperscalers renting speed rather than waiting years to build — the delivery model that keeps demand high.
Source: ALGERIATECH [V]
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Local opposition has cancelled $260bn of US data centres this year
Heatmap Pro counts at least $260bn of US data-centre investment cancelled in 2026 after sustained local opposition — about $130bn of it in the three months to 30 September alone, more than in the whole of last year. Roughly $1trn of projects now face organised opposition, and about half of the projects that met backlash this year were ultimately dropped.
Why it matters: The backlash is not noise — it is now a measurable brake on the build-out, the clearest evidence that the local fight works.
Source: Heatmap Pro [C]
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Google backs 890MW of nuclear uprates in PJM
A 20-year PPA with Constellation funds $4.3bn of upgrades at 11 reactors across Illinois, Pennsylvania and New Jersey, adding 890MW by 2032 — a week after Amazon's 690MW Calvert Cliffs deal.
Why it matters: Hyperscalers buying nuclear to escape the curtailment queue — off-grid power as the new moat.
Source: Digital News USA [V]
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 →