The Gigawatt Era Is Here — and Power, Not Land, Now Picks the Site

➤ The Signal

Single campuses now draw as much power as a mid-size city — and interconnection, not zoning or land, is the binding constraint on where these projects go.

A year ago, a gigawatt data center was a projection. In 2026 it is a delivered fact across at least five campuses. That changes the site-selection problem entirely: the scarce input is firm power on a workable interconnection timeline, and everything else is negotiable.

FERC’s show-cause orders are the tell. When the federal regulator directs the largest grid operators to formalize how they handle multi-gigawatt load, cost allocation, and on-site generation, it is because the queue is overwhelmed and the rules were written for a smaller world.

For developers and the capital behind them, interconnection risk is the new entitlement risk. A signed hyperscale lease means little if the power is five years out. Markets like Pennsylvania are winning the next wave because they can answer the power question, not because they have cheaper dirt.

➤ Implications

Underwrite data-center sites the way you underwrite entitlement: put the interconnection study and the firm-power date at the center of the model, and treat co-located generation as a value driver, not a footnote. Land basis is the easy part; energized capacity on schedule is the deal.