Data Centre Watch

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38 entries matching · showing 1–15

1. 23 Oct 2026 Updated 23 Oct UK England and Wales Policy

   Eagle moves to intervene in water bills — a first for the price review

   The environment secretary, Angela Eagle, has written to water companies and regulators saying she will intervene in the next Ofwat price review — something no government has done in the five-yearly process. Her letter sets the priorities: affordable bills and value for money, investment in technology that cuts costs, early intervention on leaks and sewage, better communication, and more decision-making power for local communities and leaders. Defra calls it 'not a business-as-usual price review' and 'the beginning of a long-term transition to a different model for the water sector'; campaigners for public ownership called it reshuffling deckchairs. The last review authorised a £104bn programme and a 36% rise in average bills by 2030.

   Why it matters: The first crack in the settlement that lets companies fund investment through bills while outcomes slip — and it is being done by letter, before the next review has formally begun.

   Source: The Guardian [V]

2. 22 Oct 2026 UK United Kingdom Policy

   AI giants give ministers 12 months before datacentre protests bite

   An AI infrastructure taskforce including Nvidia, Microsoft and Cisco has told the government there is 'roughly 12 months' to build a 'compact' that earns public consent, warning that the organised opposition which has stopped fully permitted projects in the United States is beginning to appear here. The Sovereign AI Leadership group wants recommended benefit terms for host communities — an indicative contribution scaled to a site's size, and councils keeping more business-rate revenue (in England's AI growth zones they already keep all the additional rates). PauseAI UK said people would find being 'bought off' undignified; Foxglove said retained rates would mean the companies 'would not pay a penny more'.

   Why it matters: The industry now says out loud what the planning record shows: consent, not capital, is the constraint — and it is bidding for community support with tax that would otherwise go to the centre.

   Source: The Guardian [V]

3. 1 Jul 2026 Updated 22 Oct UK England Policy

   Three data-centre campuses moved out of local planning in four months

   Section 35 directions under the Planning Act 2008 have moved three campuses out of local planning in four months: Wapseys Wood, Buckinghamshire (16 March), Ampthill Road, Central Bedfordshire (15 June) and New Barn Road, Dartford (1 July). Once directed, a Development Consent Order examined by the Planning Inspectorate — and decided by the secretary of state, not the council — replaces the planning application. The data-centre National Policy Statement meant to set the tests for these decisions was expected early in 2026 and is still unpublished.

   Why it matters: It changes who decides and how you object — from a council committee to a national examination, with the secretary of state holding the final word.

   Source: GOV.UK — Section 35 direction, New Barn Road, Dartford (Planning Act 2008) [V]

   Changes (1)

   1. 22 Oct 2026 — Compiled from the GOV.UK Section 35 directions after a 22 October planning-reform analysis; three data-centre campuses have now been moved into the NSIP regime.
4. 21 Oct 2026 World United States Policy

   Trump tells data centres to make their own power and pay a 'dividend'

   In a Truth Social post on 21 October, Trump said new and very large data centres should be required to produce their own electricity and supply or sell surplus to local communities or the grid, so they don't push up household bills. He also urged developers to pay a 'dividend' to the community or to individuals living nearby: 'Data Centers that were highly unpopular in a certain area, have become extremely popular when a financial deal is struck. MAKE DEALS, and get them built!!!'

   Why it matters: The 'own your power, pay your neighbours' formula now coming from the White House — and it treats consent as a price, not a process.

   Source: Economic Times / Times of India (Reuters) [C]

5. 21 Oct 2026 UK Scotland Policy

   Minister's letter casts doubt on Scotland's data-centre guidance

   Public Finance Minister Hannah Mary Goodlad wrote to Green MSP Patrick Harvie on 8 October saying ministers were still considering whether to bring forward national planning guidance for hyperscale data centres — two days after confirming in a written answer that it would be published before Christmas, and having said in September it would come by year-end. The Scottish Government now insists guidance will be published before the end of 2026, as councils and campaigners press for the safeguards behind the current pause. A Green MSP has urged North Ayrshire Council to back a national consultation on data centres.

   Why it matters: The pause on hyperscale decisions rests on guidance that may not arrive when ministers said — the same 'announce now, decide later' pattern as the UK's missing National Policy Statement.

   Source: The Herald [C]

6. 7 Oct 2026 Updated 21 Oct World Tennessee, US Policy

   Memphis council rejects a long data-centre moratorium

   Memphis City Council first voted 7–5 to postpone a year-long moratorium on new data centres (Ordinance 5982) to its 20 October meeting, after a packed, protest-disrupted session; the city already hosts xAI's 'Colossus'. On 20 October it rejected the long pause on a tied vote and passed a shorter, amended moratorium instead. The fight has centred on Elon Musk's expansion — he now says he is staying in Memphis 'night and day' to guide the build-out.

   Why it matters: The US version of the local revolt: a city with a hyperscaler already running, asked by neighbours to stop the next one.

   Source: DCD [C]

   Changes (2)

   1. 21 Oct 2026 — Added the 20 Oct outcome: the long moratorium was rejected on a tied vote and a shorter amended pause passed instead; noted the xAI/Musk context.
   2. 7 Oct 2026 — First filed.
7. 19 Oct 2026 UK England Policy

   Water bosses called in as ministers order daily drought monitoring

   Water company chief executives were called before the National Drought Group, chaired by water minister Emma Hardy, after ministers ordered daily monitoring of reservoir and river levels. Companies reported holding back less water for rivers, cutting pressure overnight where safe, and moving water between networks. Drought permits are in place for Wimbleball and Ardingly, Wessex Water is preparing seven more, and non-essential use ban applications from South East Water, South West Water and Southern Water sit with the Environment Secretary. The Environment Agency says at least 120% of average rainfall is needed over six months to leave drought by spring.

   Why it matters: Daily monitoring means Whitehall is now watching the numbers itself — and the companies' measures are being reported back as obligations rather than offers.

   Source: Defra / Environment Agency / Emma Hardy MP (GOV.UK) [V]

8. 19 Oct 2026 UK England Policy

   Ministerial direction tells the EA to protect supplies in severe-drought zones

   Defra and the Environment Agency published a direction under section 40 of the Environment Act 1995, instructing the EA to act to protect public water supplies in water resource zones affected by severe drought. It is the legal instrument behind the river-release cuts and abstraction changes being made across the south — the machinery that sits between a drought declaration and a water company restriction order.

   Why it matters: Formalises who decides what when supply runs short: the state, not the companies, holds this lever — and it has now been pulled for the hardest-hit zones.

   Source: Defra / Environment Agency (GOV.UK) [V]

9. 19 Oct 2026 World Global Policy

   Anthropic disowns NDAs and local tax breaks

   Anthropic says it will not ask public officials to sign non-disclosure agreements or accept local tax incentives at future data-centre sites, worldwide and whether owned or leased. It follows similar commitments from Microsoft to end local-government NDAs and stop seeking local tax breaks — the two biggest backers in the AI build-out publicly disowning the secrecy-and-subsidy playbook that has fuelled local rows.

   Why it matters: The ground is shifting: 'we won't hide it and we won't take your tax base' is becoming a competitive claim, not a concession.

   Source: Certified Strategic [C]

10. 15 Oct 2026 Updated 19 Oct World United States Policy

    A sweep of US cities and counties moves against data centres

    In one week: Milwaukee's Common Council passed a one-year moratorium (and is weighing size caps); Denver began a working group after its one-year pause; Stephens County, Georgia extended its land-use moratorium to January 2027; Fort Wayne, Indiana rejected one; Denton, Texas voted 4-0 to make every new data centre get a council permit (limited to industrial/public zoning); Taylor, Texas approved a 664-acre campus with its own gas plant (5-0); Van Buren Township, Michigan gave Google's $2bn 'Project Cannoli' campus final site-plan approval (5-1) after months of opposition; and Lowndes County, Alabama approved a 20-year, $1.15bn tax break for Cloverleaf's Project Red Clay over opposition. San Francisco and Oakland passed 45-day pauses, Memphis postponed its moratorium vote to 20 October, and Shelby County's commission advanced one at first reading. Nationally, the datacenterbans.com tracker counts 20 active bans or moratoriums and 27 of 50 states restricting or considering restrictions, with further final votes due on 20 October (Memphis, Hillsboro, Bethlehem and Volusia County).

    Why it matters: The US version of the planning rowlands — dozens of separate local decisions, each writing its own rules.

    Source: Data Centers Daily Notes / local reporting [C]

    Changes (2)

    1. 19 Oct 2026 — Added the national picture from datacenterbans.com: 20 active bans/moratoriums; 27 of 50 states restricting or considering restrictions; final votes due 20 Oct (Memphis, Hillsboro, Bethlehem, Volusia County).
    2. 15 Oct 2026 — First filed.
11. 18 Oct 2026 World European Union Policy

    EU opens a €30bn tender for AI gigafactories

    The EuroHPC Joint Undertaking has opened the EU's AI Gigafactories call: up to seven sites across at least seven member states, each reaching 120MW (medium) or 150MW (large) of IT load in phase two — at least ~930MW if all are awarded. It envisages up to €10bn of EU and national money plus at least €20bn of private capital, but only €1bn of the EU's share is legally committed (the rest depends on the 2028–2035 budget). Bids close 12 November 2026; awards are expected in early 2027 and first operations by mid-2028.

    Why it matters: Europe trying to buy sovereign AI capacity at gigawatt scale — with most of the money not yet committed.

    Source: DC Market Insights [C]

12. 16 Oct 2026 UK National Policy

    Lords committee: new towns must not compete with data centres for water and power

    A House of Lords committee has warned that the government's new towns programme is 'threatened by static supply of energy and water', and that the proposed large new settlements should not have to compete for utilities with data centre projects.

    Why it matters: The same scarce inputs — grid capacity and water — now have two national building programmes queuing for them.

    Source: Planning Resource [C]

13. 15 Oct 2026 World Virginia, US Policy

    Virginia bill would pause new data centres for three years

    Virginia state senator Russet Perry has prefiled SB843, a three-year statewide moratorium on new data centres in the world's largest data-centre market. Effective 1 July 2027 and sunsetting 2030, it would block local approvals (rezoning, special exceptions, permits, site plans) and bar state agencies — including the Department of Environmental Quality and the State Corporation Commission — from permitting data-centre development or its power infrastructure.

    Why it matters: Even the industry's capital is now debating a pause — the local-revolt question reaching a state legislature.

    Source: DCD / Loudoun Now [C]

14. 15 Oct 2026 World Malaysia Policy

    Malaysia to charge data centres for power they reserve but don't use

    Malaysia's trade minister told parliament that data-centre operators will pay for committed-but-unused electricity capacity — 'request 200MW, use 100, we charge you for the other 100' — and that data-centre load is being separated from the supply serving households. It has 57 operational centres using 6,237MW, with 60 more (11,172MW) in the pipeline; operators must use water-recycling cooling.

    Why it matters: The speculative-load problem, handled by billing for reserved capacity — the same question the UK's Ofgem is wrestling with.

    Source: The Star [C]

15. 15 Oct 2026 World Northern Territory, Australia Policy

    Northern Territory Labor flips to back a hyperscale data-centre moratorium

    The NT opposition, having said a moratorium was unnecessary in August, now supports pausing 'hyper-scale' data centres until 1 July ahead of a review — after the territory's EPA recorded 'low confidence' in the environmental planning for an outback hyper-scale scheme an independent MLA tried to halt outright (two petitions, 15,000 signatures). The CLP government stripped the moratorium and review from the motion, citing national standards.

    Why it matters: The local-revolt argument reaching a territory courting 12 data-centre projects — with the regulator's own 'low confidence' as the trigger.

    Source: ABC News [C]