Texas Could Pass Virginia as World’s Top Data Center Market

Source Domain: www.govtech.com

(TNS) — From rural counties to fast-growing suburbs, data center projects are spreading across Texas, often drawing local opposition. Now, thanks in part to its business-friendly regulatory climate, Texas could soon surpass Virginia as the world’s top data center market by 2030, according to new research from real estate firm Jones Lang LaSalle.

Northern Virginia has long been the nation’s data center capital, serving the U.S. government and major companies like Google. But developers are increasingly turning to the Lone Star State.

Jones Lang LaSalle’s research found that more than half of all data center construction in the U.S. is happening outside of the industry’s traditional hubs. Texas, along with Tennessee and Ohio, is considered among the top emerging markets.

Texas already has 6.5 gigawatts of data center capacity under construction, according to the study. That accounts for a fifth of the 35 gigawatts of data center capacity the U.S. added to its pipeline last year. One gigawatt can power about 750,000 homes on average.

WHAT ARE DATA CENTERS?

Data centers are large facilities that provide critical infrastructure to support digital activity and the growth of artificial intelligence.Big tech companies like Amazon, Microsoft, Google, OpenAI and Meta plan to spend more than $600 billion on AI infrastructure this year, even as Wall Street expresses concern about the AI bubble bursting.

These data centers require massive amounts of power and water to operate.

The Electric Reliability Council of Texas, the state’s main grid operator, said data centers will cause Texas energy demand to surge 71% by 2031. Recent research suggests that training and using AI could consume more water than the global bottled water industry, largely because of data center operations.

An average 100-megawatt data center in the U.S. consumes about 2 million liters of water a day, according to an April report from the…

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