What a data center is

Next, a lesson. A data center is a building filled with computer servers, along with the power and cooling equipment that keeps them running. It is where websites, online services and stored files physically live.

The Department of Energy calls data centers one of the most energy-intensive building types. They can use 10 to 50 times the energy per floor space of a typical commercial office building.

The Department of Energy reported that data centers used about 4.4 percent of all U.S. electricity in 2023. Its report projected they could use about 6.7 to 12 percent by 2028.

For a data center or any large load, the interconnection queue — the line to connect to the grid — is usually the binding constraint, more often than land or zoning.