Power
Build.inc describes power as "the dominant filter in data center site selection." JLL ranks speed to power as the primary criterion, ahead of land price.
- Hyperscale: approximately 100 MW or more at site level
- Edge and colocation: roughly 1 MW to 30 MW
- Transmission voltage: 138kV, 230kV or 345kV, rising with load
- Utility reserve margin: whether the serving utility has headroom at all
- Available load in MW: not line proximity — actual deliverable capacity
Proximity to a transmission line establishes nothing on its own. It is not a utility commitment, not a delivery schedule, and not evidence of capacity. The four stages behind the word powered →
Interconnection and time to energize
- Interconnection queue studies: 24 to 36 months in constrained markets, often with significant upgrade obligations
- Time to energize (utility application to power delivery): about 18 months in favourable markets, five years or more in congested ones
CBRE notes that greenfield sites able to receive power within 18 to 36 months are highly sought after; where new infrastructure is required, interconnection runs 24 to 48 months or more. Why this is now the first filter →
Land
- Hyperscale campus: roughly 100 to 500+ acres, allowing for phasing, on-site power infrastructure and setbacks
- Contiguity: fragmented ownership creates assembly risk
- Control: option, LOI or purchase contract, secured before utility commitments
Fiber and connectivity
- At least two diverse fiber paths — physically separate routes
- Proximity to carrier-neutral access points and internet exchange points
- Dark fiber availability for the highest bandwidth requirements
Water and cooling
Cooling runs 30 to 40 percent of operating costs, which is why climate enters site selection at all.
- Air economization suits cooler climates
- Hot, humid climates need more mechanical cooling
- Evaporative cooling requires adequate water supply
- Water-stressed regions face regulatory and public pressure regardless of technical feasibility
- Direct liquid and immersion cooling reduce water dependency for dense GPU loads
Zoning and permitting
- Timelines: six months to three years or more, depending on jurisdiction and scale
- Data centers frequently sit between industrial use and special permitting
- Virginia, Texas and Georgia have streamlined pathways
- Some jurisdictions have imposed moratoriums
Environmental and physical
- FEMA FIRM flood maps
- Wetlands delineation
- Phase I environmental, and Phase II where indicated
- Buildable, gradeable topography; karst and shallow rock add cost
What actually kills a site
Build.inc identifies insufficient available load, or a time to energize that runs past the project's requirement, as the most likely cause of a failed deal. After that: no viable fiber, zoning with no permit path, adverse environmental findings, flood exposure, and water constraints that rule out the intended cooling design.
Specifications as publicly described by Build.inc, CBRE, JLL and Colliers, reflecting practice through 2026. Requirements vary by operator and project.