New Data Center Developments: July 2026

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New Data Center Developments: July 2026
We look at some of the latest data center developments announced over the past month.
The demand for new data centers isn’t showing any sign of slowing. With new projects announced each week, keeping track of the latest data center developments can be difficult.
To keep you informed about the latest data center news involving design, construction, and related developments, we are bringing you the highlights from the past month.
This curated selection will help you stay on top of the latest data center development news with ease.
Microsoft has broken ground on its latest data center project in La Porte, Indiana. (Image: Microsoft)
North American Data Center Deals
Newly released US Census Bureau data shows that data centers are now the largest segment of commercial building construction. Project spending reached a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $51 billion, surpassing categories traditionally associated with office development. With demand indicators still wrong, that figure is likely to keep growing.
On the policy front, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued show-cause orders to the six largest US grid operators, directing them to defend or rewrite interconnection rules for large loads. FERC’s orders set a deadline for markets to define processes for handling gigawatt-scale load requests, evaluating co-located generation, assigning upgrade costs, and ensuring sufficient generation is available when projects come online.
Virginia lawmakers, meanwhile, approved legislation for a first-of-its-kind tax on data center electricity consumption. The budget establishes a consumption tax of $0.011 per kilowatt-hour on all electricity consumed by data centers beginning July 1, 2026. Legislative budget documents estimate the tax will generate $600 million annually for Virginia’s general fund over the next two years.
Wisconsin continued to hit industry headlines, as Microsoft cut the ribbon on a $3.3 billion facility in the state, the first data center at its Mount Pleasant campus, bringing online a project that has become one of the company’s highest-profile AI infrastructure developments. The facility, which began limited operations, is now fully online.
In other news, Oracle asked a Wisconsin court to overturn state utility regulators’ decision requiring some hyperscale data center developers to post hundreds of millions of dollars in financial security, creating an early legal test of how states allocate the risks of powering AI infrastructure. The company argues that regulators exceeded their authority under new tariffs that target data centers.
That story follows the April announcement that the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin approved changes to a proposed data center tariff from We Energies, including a requirement that large-load customers cover the full cost of generation and the grid infrastructure serving them.
In other community news, voters in Monterey Park, California, approved a ballot measure prohibiting data centers within city limits, concluding a months-long fight over a proposed 247,000 sq.ft data center backed by Australian investment firm HMC StratCap. The measure, which passed with 86% support, creates what appears to be the first voter-enacted municipal ban on data center development in the US.
Amid this very public backlash, Data Center Knowledge reporter Shane Snider took a closer look at what the industry needs to do to win back community trust, writing that community sentiment has now emerged as an equally decisive constraint for the data center industry as power, land, transmission, and supply chains.
In more news from the Midwest, Missouri is poised to join the ranks of major data center hubs, with operators like Amazon and Google reaching beyond traditional markets constrained by power and space. In Montgomery County, Amazon plans to invest $10 billion in a new data center campus, and Google will invest $15 billion in a separate data center project, bringing the total value of recently announced hyperscale developments in the county to $25 billion.
In La Porte, Indiana, Microsoft broke ground on a new data center and celebrated its partnership with Ivy Tech Community College to open the state's first Microsoft Data Center Academy.
The Kansas City market, meanwhile, continues to grow with news that Digital Realty has acquired 1,440 acres of land to support hyperscale development. The firm has entered into an Energy Service Agreement with the local utility for 600 MW of utility power by early 2028, with expected capacity of 2 GW at full delivery.
Texas’ Public Utility Commission has approved a one-time, systemwide process to evaluate new large loads and load expansions of 75 MW or more. The overhaul replaces a legacy utility-by-utility approach with a centralized evaluation led by ERCOT, a shift prompted by an avalanche of data center and AI-related power requests.
Elsewhere in the state, Chevron and Microsoft signed a 20-year agreement to supply dedicated power for a planned data center campus near Pecos, Texas, one of the largest pairings of compute infrastructure and on-site generation in the US, the companies said on Monday.
In Avondale, Arizona, Prime Data Centers opened the first facility in its 240 MW hyperscale campus on a 66.5-acre site.
In a joint op-ed for Data Center Knowledge, Holland & Knight partners Graham Coates and Brendan Connors explore how a potential legislative moratorium and landmark PSC proceeding chart dual paths forward as New York tackles the challenges of data center expansion.
More North American data center news:
Alphabet said it plans to raise approximately $80 billion in equity capital to expand AI infrastructure, with Berkshire Hathaway agreeing to purchase $5 billion each of Alphabet’s Class A and Class C shares.
The White House issued a new executive order to establish a voluntary process allowing the government to evaluate certain frontier AI models before public release.
A USGS study estimates that 1.4 million metric tons of recoverable lithium oxide are present in the Carolinas, a potential boost for grid-scale battery energy storage.
Pure DC has secured $2.7 billion to accelerate AI infrastructure growth across Europe and the Middle East (Image: Pure DC)
European Data Center Developments
Data Center Knowledge writer Andrew Donoghue took a closer look at new measures introduced in the EU in June to improve its digital competitiveness in areas including AI and advanced chip design and manufacturing.
DC01UK, a large-scale AI-ready data center near London, was approved by Hertsmere Borough Council, with details about appearance, layout, landscaping, and scale still to be determined.
The headline follows last year’s news that colocation leader Equinix had acquired the site, east of South Mimms Services, and plans a £4 billion ($5.3 billion) investment in developing it.
In Ireland, Dublin-based Pure DC has received $2.7 billion in financing, including a $2.15 billion Dublin data center facility secured against the firm’s Dublin and Amsterdam campuses.
Meanwhile, as reported by the Financial Times, data center developer Era4 is blaming a potential collapse of its multibillion-pound facility in Wales on permitting delays by the UK government.
In Scandinavia, Google launched a new data center in Horndal, Sweden, to support Search, Google Cloud, and YouTube services in the country.
Colocation provider atNorth has expanded into Norway with the purchase of land for a planned mega data center in Haugaland. The project, which is slated to go online in 2028, will initially deliver 120 MW, increasing to 350 MW at full capacity.
Another major land acquisition made headlines in Finland, as Arcem has signed an agreement with the municipality of Joroinen. The 800,000 sq.m site will host a facility with up to 500 MW capacity. The first 60 MW construction phase is expected to launch in early 2027.
Elsewhere, SoftBank Group said it will build a 5 GW AI data center in northern France, representing an investment of up to €75 billion ($85 billion). The first phase is expected to deliver 3.1 GW of AI data center capacity.
In a €2 billion ($2.3 billion) investment, hyperscale platform Hscale has expanded its footprint in Italy, acquiring its second Milan data center campus and reaching a combined capacity of 250 MW. The new campus, MXP2, will comprise three buildings and is set to deliver 120 MW by the end of 2028.
In Spain, Singapore-based DayOne announced details of its first data center campus project in the country, to be developed by Ignis. The campus, in the Aragon region, is expected to have a capacity of 300 MW.
Alibaba Cloud has launched a new public cloud region in Johor, Malaysia.
Asia-Pacific Data Centers Builds
In Asia-Pacific data center news, AirTrunk, backed by Blackstone, plans to invest $21 billion in the western Indian state of Maharashtra, where it looks to build a data center with 3 GW of capacity.
Meta, meanwhile, inked an agreement with Reliance Industries to lease its first AI-enabled data center in the country. The hyperscaler said it is also partnering with two clean energy providers in India, CleanMax and Fourth Partner Energy, to back nearly 1 GW of renewable energy.
In Malaysia, Alibaba Cloud launched a new public cloud region in Johor. Further south, STT Global Data Centers said it will expand its Jakarta data center campus, adding new facilities totaling 360 MW of AI-ready IT capacity. This development adds to a campus that is expected to deliver a combined capacity of 2.7 GW by 2030.
Digital Edge has acquired land in Ansan, South Korea, to develop 60 MW of AI-ready data capacity, supported by a 90 MVA power agreement. The site will feature dual-feed power architecture supported by two independent 154 kV substations.
In South Australia, Iren has signed a transmission connection agreement to support a planned 800 MW data center campus in Bundey, with energization set for 2028.
Meanwhile, Galaxy Data Center has raised $250 million in an initial strategic financing round to support the development of its data center platform in Southeast Asia.
More Asia-Pacific data center news this month:
Amazon has become water positive in India. The company said it is now returning more water to communities than it uses.
Samsung said it plans to develop floating data centers, addressing land scarcity.
SunCon received funding increases for two projects totaling $370 million.
Middle East and Africa Data Center Investments
UAE-based Damac Digital has reached 6,000 MW in planned IT capacity across its portfolio in 13 countries. The infrastructure provider has broken ground on 10 new sites in the last five months, with eight sites expected to be operational by the end of 2026.
Egypt has approved the license for Hassan Allam Digital Infrastructure and Data Center Solutions to develop hyperscale data centers. The venture is backed by a first-phase capital expenditure projection of $400 million.
In Israel, Stark Power has committed to acquire 100% of Sagebrush Infrastructure Partners, a developer of hyperscale data centers and co-located natural gas-fired power plants.

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