If you only read the headlines, you might think a data center is going up on every other block. The reality is far more nuanced.
As of Aug. 9, the Brockovich AI Data Center Reporting map showed 33 operational data centers, 66 under construction and 47 proposed, compared with 8,837 locations categorized as “community reported.”*
That last figure requires some context. Community-reported locations can include existing facilities, projects under construction, proposed developments and even rumored projects. They should not be interpreted as 8,837 data centers on their way to becoming operational.
The disparity is a useful illustration of what we are seeing across the market. Interest in data center development is extraordinary, but there is a wide gap between identifying a potential site and developing a viable project.
Even if 10% of the projects being discussed today are built over the next seven years, that would represent remarkable growth for the industry. But the demand (as outrageously high as it is), capital (as eager as it is) and power required to build every project being contemplated simply do not exist, nor does every group pursuing a site have the experience or resources to execute.
Through our work with groups pursuing data center developments across the country, we see a wide range of experience and readiness. Some are established operators that understand the business and have the capital, utility relationships and customer strategy to move a project forward. Others have purchased land or begun pursuing power without a clear understanding of what comes next. That distinction matters because land and power alone do not make a data center project.
An experienced operator can spend nine figures acquiring a few hundred acres, secure 200 megawatts and spend the next year advancing the site. Yet a year later, the property may look exactly as it did on the day of closing. Without a customer or a viable path to construction, it is just an expensive field.
The challenge is that a project can appear viable surprisingly far into the process, with land under control, apparent access to power and interested capital, while fundamental questions remain unanswered:
- Can the power actually be delivered within the required time frame?
- Does the location align with customer demand?
- Can the infrastructure support the planned development?
- Do construction costs and market economics align?
- Is there a credible path to securing a customer?
Any one of those issues can change the viability of a project.
For developers that have already committed meaningful capital and time to a site, the temptation is to continue moving forward. But the greater risk may be spending another year and several million dollars advancing a project that was unlikely to pencil from the beginning.
This is not an argument that the data center market is overbuilt or overhyped. Quite the opposite. Demand is substantial, and the amount of new capacity that will be required in the coming years represents an enormous opportunity for the industry. That opportunity, however, has also attracted a flood of proposed projects that will never reach construction.
As the market matures, the distinction between a promising data center site and an executable data center project will become increasingly important. The opportunity ahead is significant, but success will depend less on how many projects are proposed and more on how many have the fundamentals to actually get built.
*Source: Brockovich AI Data Center Reporting, data as of Aug. 9, 2026. During production of this piece, Brockovich AI Data Center Reporting stopped publishing figures for operational and under-construction figures.
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