5 Notable Data Center Links, November 22
OpenAI Teams with Foxconn, CleanArc's Virginia Project, Grassroots Protests Surge
Each week I curate 5 links from the data center sector that I find particularly interesting, with my commentary on why they merit your attention.
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5 Notable Links
OpenAI and Foxconn Partner on Next-Generation AI Factories - This piece from Capacity Media builds on our reporting on OpenAI’s plans to build its own data centers. Foxconn Technology Group and OpenAI will partner on the design and future production of new AI data center hardware. Early coverage focused on shifting manufacturing to the U.S. for a more secure supply chain. But as I noted in September, OpenAI is rethinking the design of data center racks and other foundational building blocks of AI infrastructure. The Capacity story notes that “OpenAI will provide Foxconn with insight into the hardware requirements of current and upcoming AI models,” which could enable tight optimization of form factors around OpenAI’s tech. It will be interesting to see where this goes.
CleanArc Launches 900 MW Project in Virginia - On Friday, data center developer CleanArc Data Centers broke ground on a $3 billion campus in Caroline County, Virginia (just south of Fredericksburg). CleanArc launched in 2023 with a goal of building hyperscale campuses backed by clean energy. An interesting wrinkle: CleanArc recently expanded its planned VA1 campus from 600 to 900 MWs. “Securing this additional land and substantially increasing our planned capacity positions CleanArc to meet the needs of the most demanding hyperscalers,” said James Trout, Founder and CEO of CleanArc Data Centers. “We’re ensuring our customers have the infrastructure they need to grow, innovate, and operate without limits today and well into the future.” Trout previously held leadership posts at Vantage, Digital Realty and CoreSite.
FERC Confronts Consumer Angst Amid AI Push - The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) convened to weigh next steps amid tensions between AI growth and residential rate hikes. It led off with an interesting statement from new FERC Chair Laura Swett: “In addition to our core mission of keeping the lights on for all Americans at reasonable costs, my priority as chairman is to ensure that our country can connect and power data centers as quickly and as durably as possible,” said Swett. Good summary from E&E News.
Local Opposition Stalls $98 Billion in Data Center Development - Much of the coverage of community pushback on data centers is anecdotal, showing up in local news stories. Research shop Data Center Watch has begun tracking grassroots protests across the country, and the numbers are startling. The group said we’ve hit a “turning point” in data center development risk. “In Q2 2025 alone, an estimated $98 billion in projects were blocked or delayed, more than the total for all previous quarters since 2023,” the summary notes. “As political resistance builds and local organizing becomes more coordinated, this is now a sustained and intensifying trend.” That certainly tracks with the volume of headlines I’ve been seeing. Data Center Watch is a project of 10a Labs, whose services include consulting on “assessing data center risks.”
Schneider Electric, Switch in $1.9 Billion Agreement - Schneider Electric made a series of news announcements at its Innovation Summit in LAs Vegas, including a big expansion of its relationship with Switch, the largest data center player in town. The companies said the $1.9 billion agreement for delivery of prefabricated power modules and capacity of Schneider’s Uniflair chillers will be the “largest data center cooling project in North America.”
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Higher energy and utility bills won't do the affordability crisis any favors it seems. At a certain point the US national debt, AI infrastructure debt, and the common citizen are going to come to a head. A tightening labor market will in part be blamed on AI in 2026.
The grassroots oppositon to data centers is really picking up momentum. $98 bilion in blocked projects is a huge numbre. It makes sense that communities are getting more organized about this stuff.