Announced isn't built: reading a datacenter's stage from the record
Five stages, the document that proves each one, and where it usually lives.
On this page5 sections
A datacenter announcement is a statement of intent. It names a campus, a county and a big number. None of that tells you whether the project has a site plan, a permit or a power contract.
Stage lives in the public record. Each step leaves a document behind, filed with a county, a state agency or a utility regulator. If you can name the document, you can name the stage.
The five stages
These are the stages we use. Each one needs a document, not a quote.
| Stage | What proves it | Where it usually lives |
|---|---|---|
| Announced | Press release or public statement | News, company sites, economic development offices |
| Filed | Rezoning, site plan or permit application | County agendas, state permit portals |
| Approved | Zoning vote, issued air or water permit | Board minutes, state agency records |
| Under construction | Dated construction inspection or documented physical work; a permit alone is not proof | City permit portals, aerial imagery |
| Energized | Explicit dated confirmation of energization or in-service operation; a service agreement alone is not proof | ERCOT approval to energize (reported in aggregate); utility and operator filings |
Same campus, three numbers
A big campus rarely moves as one block. The headline number covers every phase. Fewer megawatts reach approval, and fewer again break ground.
Approved isn’t energized
An approval says a project may be built. It says nothing about when power arrives, or how much. The power side has its own paper trail: load requests, studies and service agreements, filed with the utility or the grid operator.
Until that trail shows up, keep the project at its permit stage, however advanced the building looks.
Read the MW basis
A megawatt figure next to a datacenter name can mean IT load, utility load or generation. One Texas docket lists 265.5 MW beside a datacenter name. Read the filing and the number is a wind farm.
PUCT 58881
265.5 MW wind generation, not load.
Three questions for every number
- Is it load or generation?
- Is it IT load or the utility request?
- Is it one phase or the whole campus?
Before you count it
Name the document, name the stage, and keep the source next to the number. If you can’t point to the filing, it goes in the announced column. That one habit keeps a model honest when the press cycle runs ahead of the record.
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