Data Center Intelligence - Weekly Roundup (Dec 15-21)
December 26, 2025
The data center world definitely didn’t ease quietly into the week of December 15–21. Money’s still flowing, expansion plans keep getting bigger, and power strategies aren’t standing still, plus, regulators are stepping in with a noticeably firmer touch these days. From the FP&A side, this sector still looks like a solid place to put money, but honestly, things just got a bit more complicated again.
It’s organized around four main angles: what’s happening in the industry, current expansion plans, trends in green energy and the environment, and what’s going on with policy.
1. Industry trends
Capital flows, consolidation, and new business models
Record year for data center dealmaking
A new report highlighted that global data center transaction volume has hit a record, with the AI buildout driving an unprecedented wave of acquisitions, platform deals, and capital formation. In simple terms, more money is chasing fewer truly strategic assets. Reuters+1
Why it matters
For FP&A teams, this confirms that valuations are being set in an AI context, not a legacy colocation context. Benchmark yields and exit assumptions should reflect a world where strategic scarcity and AI optionality drive pricing, not just rent rolls.
Ares doubles down on Northern Virginia
Ares Management announced two large data center transactions in Northern Virginia, further increasing its exposure to the worlds most important interconnection and cloud metro. The deals underscore how institutional capital still views core United States markets as must own positions in a long term AI portfolio. Ada Infrastructure
Why it matters
Treat Northern Virginia as a structural overweight for most global allocators. For planning, that means continued pressure on land, power, and entitlement, and a bias toward scale platforms that already control positions in the region.
Applied Digital secures development loan facility from Macquarie
Applied Digital closed a new development loan facility with Macquarie to fund early stage sourcing, planning, and construction of new campuses. The structure provides pre lease capital and is designed to accelerate moves into AI focused sites before tenant commitments are fully locked in. Applied Digital Corporation
Why it matters
This is another example of capital providers becoming comfortable with earlier risk in the project life cycle. FP&A teams should expect to see more blended financing where development risk is shared, but where the expectation is that AI demand will backfill as power and shells come online.
Meta outlines a global expansion and technology upgrade cycle
Meta detailed a global data center expansion and technology investment program, signaling that its next phase of AI growth will require both new capacity and significant upgrades at existing sites. The plan reinforces that AI is an overlay on top of a still expanding social and enterprise workload base, not a replacement. ALM
Why it matters
For forecasts, this is additive demand rather than cannibalization. Analysts should treat Meta and peers as multi wave buyers of space, power, and interconnect, with refresh cycles compressing as AI hardware generations turn over faster.
Ownership of AI infrastructure continues to broaden
A detailed Bloomberg analysis showed that big tech still dominates AI infrastructure, but its share is shrinking as alternative asset managers, utilities, regional developers, and specialist platforms move into the space. Bloomberg
Why it matters
The competitive field is widening. For strategy and FP&A, this means tenant and partner maps will look very different in five years. New counterparties will show up both as customers and as rivals in land, power, and capital negotiations.
2. Future expansion
Land, campuses, and the geography of AI infrastructure
Oracle and OpenAI cleared to move ahead in Michigan
Michigan regulators approved DTE Energy contracts to power a seven billion dollar, one point four gigawatt data center complex planned by Oracle and OpenAI on farmland south of Ann Arbor. The approval came after a contentious process and significant public opposition, but it gives the utility a green light to move ahead with new high voltage infrastructure. Bloomberg+2Planet Detroit+2
What it signals
This is one of the clearest examples of a state leaning into AI infrastructure as a strategic industry. For FP&A, treat Michigan as an emerging anchor corridor that will draw follow on proposals, but also as a case where community pushback will remain part of the story.
Oracle readies a separate Michigan cloud region
In parallel, Oracle highlighted progress on another Michigan data center designed to support its cloud services, reinforcing the states growing role in its North American footprint. Oracle
What it signals
Do not think of Michigan as a single site bet. It is becoming a multi site cluster anchored by cloud and AI loads. Forecasts should reflect regional spillover effects on grid planning, construction labor, and local incentives.
Fifteen billion dollar Wisconsin campus breaks ground amid controversy
A massive fifteen billion dollar data center campus in Port Washington, Wisconsin, held its groundbreaking ceremony, even as local residents and advocates raised concerns about land use, power demand, and ratepayer exposure. Idcnova
What it signals
This is the frontier model for very large campuses in new states. It also shows that groundbreaking does not mean the controversy is over. FP&A teams should assume that in similar projects, community and political risk will persist through the full construction and ramp period.
New 1,930 acre campus proposed in Virginia
Developer LSI 360 filed an application for a nearly two thousand acre data center campus in Dulles South, Prince William County, adding yet another mega proposal to the broader Northern Virginia pipeline. Cleanview
What it signals
Northern Virginia is entering a new phase where entire new districts are being imagined at campus scale. For modeling, this means more competition for power and entitlements in exurban locations, and more binary outcomes depending on county level votes.
Gigawatt scale projects face rising opposition in the Carolinas
In South Carolina, a proposed gigawatt class data center near the ACE Basin drew intense opposition at zoning and appeals meetings, with residents and politicians describing the project in stark terms and questioning its fit with the surrounding landscape. Sc Daily Gazette+1
What it signals
Large AI campuses in scenic or environmentally sensitive regions will attract organized resistance. Pipelines in these areas should be treated as high variance, with timelines and execution risk significantly above the industry average.
3. Green energy and environmental builds
Power strategy, water, and long term risk
Google and TotalEnergies sign long term solar deal in Malaysia
Google and TotalEnergies announced a twenty one year renewable power agreement to supply a new Google data center in Malaysia, tying dedicated solar generation to the site and supporting the companys regional decarbonization goals. TotalEnergies.com
Why it matters
Long tenor renewable contracts are moving into high growth emerging markets, not just the United States and Europe. FP&A teams should view these PPAs as both cost hedges and as signals of where long duration AI presence is most likely.
California project locks in renewable power and recycled water
In Pittsburg, California, the city and developers reached an agreement with environmental advocates to ensure a planned data center uses one hundred percent renewable energy, rooftop solar, electric vehicle infrastructure, and recycled water along with other protections. Center for Biological Diversity
Why it matters
Projects that bake environmental concessions into the design are more likely to survive regulatory and legal scrutiny. For planning, this suggests higher upfront capex in exchange for smoother entitlement and lower long term reputational risk.
Water stress and data centers under renewed scrutiny
A Reuters deep dive revisited the water footprint of data centers, emphasizing how the choice of generation mix can dramatically change indirect water use. As the power sector decarbonizes, the link between clean power and water consumption will reshape how sites are evaluated. Reuters
Why it matters
FP&A teams can no longer treat water as a local utility concern only. Water risk should enter site selection scoring, long term operating expense, and scenario analysis around climate and regulatory change.
Michigan becomes a flashpoint for solar versus data center growth
CleanTechnica framed Michigan as a tale of two futures, one anchored in distributed solar and renewables, the other in very large AI campuses that demand new transmission, gas plants, and high capacity lines. CleanTechnica
Why it matters
Investors and planners should expect narratives about AI growth to be directly compared with alternative uses of capital and land, especially renewables. This will influence how easily projects can secure public support and favorable policy treatment.
Wisconsin ratepayers still paying for shuttered plants as new loads loom
A report from Wisconsin highlighted that ratepayers are still carrying around one billion dollars of stranded costs from retired power plants, just as new data center driven loads are arriving and pushing utilities to consider further buildouts. Wisconsin Examiner
Why it matters
This is a preview of an emerging political storyline: who pays for past mistakes and future upgrades. FP&A teams should anticipate that future regulatory approvals may come with stronger cost sharing conditions, demand response requirements, or clean energy commitments.
4. Government policy and community response
Incentives, oversight, and evolving rules
Federal regulators clear a path for direct power plant colocation
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approved a policy that allows large data centers to connect directly to power plants under clarified rules, with guidance for cost sharing and pricing in markets like PJM that serve tens of millions of customers. AP News+1
Why it matters
This opens a formal pathway for data center and power plant pairings that bypass traditional grid connections. For FP&A, that means new models where generation and compute are developed together, but also new questions about how risk and benefit are allocated between private users and public ratepayers.
State legislatures intensify focus on data center power and water
An analysis from Carbon Direct noted that state legislatures have introduced dozens of bills related to data centers in 2025, many targeting incentives, power use, and water impacts. carboncapturemagazine.com
Why it matters
Policy risk is no longer limited to a handful of high profile counties. FP&A teams should maintain a state by state map of emerging rules and understand that incentive regimes and environmental standards can change within the life of a project.
Georgia regulators approve a large gas heavy power plan for data centers
The Georgia Public Service Commission approved a plan from Georgia Power that includes five new methane gas plants and about ten gigawatts of new generation capacity, framed in part around anticipated data center growth, despite criticism that customer protections are weak. Southern Environmental Law Center+1
Why it matters
This is a textbook example of how data center demand is now shaping whole state resource plans. For strategy, it reinforces that AI infrastructure is deeply entwined with gas and grid politics. For FP&A, it signals both future capacity and potential backlash risk.
Michigan commission approves DTE contracts with protections for other customers
Michigan regulators approved DTE Electric energy contracts for a major data center project, but attached conditions intended to protect non data center customers from bearing disproportionate costs. Michigan
Why it matters
Expect more approvals that come with guardrails rather than simple yes or no outcomes. FP&A should be ready to model multiple structures for cost recovery and to design proposals that clearly demonstrate ratepayer protections.
Virginia regulators examine backup generator use at data centers
In Virginia, regulators are weighing whether to allow expanded use of backup generators at data centers and under what conditions, highlighting the tension between reliability for AI loads and air quality for nearby communities. virginiamercury.com
Why it matters
This underscores that even widely adopted practices, like diesel or gas backup, are now being revisited through a policy lens. Operators will need cleaner backup options over time, and FP&A should include potential retrofits or technology shifts in long term capex planning.
Closing thought for the week
When you step back from the headlines, the picture is clear. AI is still pulling enormous capital into digital infrastructure, but every new gigawatt now has to pass three tests at once
1.Can you secure power on acceptable terms?
2.Can you secure community and regulatory support?
3.Can you structure the project so that the risk is acceptable for tenants, utilities, and investors?
For FP&A leaders, that means moving from simple megawatt forecasting to integrated planning that connects land, power, policy, and capital into a single model. The operators and investors who treat this as an orchestration problem rather than a construction problem will be the ones who keep winning allocations, approvals, and tenants in the years ahead.
“Content is based on public information and personal analysis. Not financial or investment advice.”
