Before committing to a data center site, get parcel-specific, written answers on whether it can receive enough power on schedule, support the required cooling and network connections, clear approvals, and operate within your risk and cost limits. Start by defining the business’s workload and growth needs, then use minimum requirements to screen out infeasible sites before comparing the viable ones.
Define what the business needs the site to do
A location cannot be judged in isolation from the facility it must support. ASHRAE’s AI Data Center Energy Performance Framework recommends aligning site planning with workloads, equipment density, infrastructure needs, and planned expansion. Write down the requirements below before asking utilities or landowners to assess a parcel.
- Workloads and users: What applications will run there, where are their users and dependent services, and how sensitive are they to latency or interruption?
- Capacity and density: What capacity is needed at opening, how dense will the equipment be, and how will demand grow in each planned phase?
- Schedule: When must the site be energized and ready for occupancy? How much contingency is acceptable if utility work, equipment delivery, or approvals slip?
- Resilience: What availability and recovery objectives apply? What redundancy is required for power, cooling, and network systems?
- Cooling strategy: Which cooling approaches are being considered, and what do they imply for land, power, water, equipment, and operating costs?
Translate these into explicit minimums, such as a required power delivery date, acceptable latency to named endpoints, and space for specified future phases. A vague aim to build a “large” or “highly resilient” facility is not a useful basis for comparing parcels.
Can the site get the power it needs, on time?
Power is often a feasibility and schedule gate, not simply a question of whether a substation is nearby. Ask the utility or other prospective provider to assess the exact parcel and planned load in writing. ASHRAE’s framework and the April 2022 report Matching Data Center Delivery to Demand both emphasize early review of power availability, grid constraints, interconnection, and supporting infrastructure.
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- Which utility or provider would serve this parcel, and has it confirmed that the proposed load can be delivered?
- How much capacity is available, at what voltage, and by what date? What queue position, assumptions, or other conditions does that estimate depend on?
- Are transmission, substation, transformer, switchgear, or other upgrades required? Who will design, fund, build, own, and maintain them?
- What are the estimated costs and lead times for those works, and which estimates are binding rather than preliminary?
- Can the provider support the planned expansion phases? What happens if the project’s load or schedule changes?
- What tariff and service terms apply, including demand charges, minimum-use requirements, collateral, and any restrictions?
- Which backup generation, storage, renewable supply, or other options are practical and permitted at this location?
Ask the provider to state what must happen before service is available and what could change its estimate. “There is a substation nearby” does not establish spare capacity, an approved connection, a construction schedule, or a commercial commitment.
Power infrastructure costs and policy expectations vary by jurisdiction. For example, the Government of Canada’s Canada’s Responsible Data Centre Development Principles say project proponents should bear electricity connection and service costs attributable to their projects, including relevant generation, transmission, substations, and grid upgrades. Those are Canadian principles, not a universal legal rule; ask local authorities and the utility which obligations apply to the parcel.
Will connectivity meet the workload’s needs?
Network fit depends on what the facility will serve. A latency-sensitive service may need proximity to users or network hubs, while some AI training and high-performance-computing workloads may place greater emphasis on available power and land. Do not treat a provider’s presence in the area as proof that the required service can reach the site.
- Which fiber providers can serve the parcel now, and which have committed construction plans?
- Are the proposed routes physically diverse, or do they share ducts, poles, bridges, rights-of-way, or other failure points?
- What new construction, easements, or rights-of-way are needed, who will arrange them, and when can they be ready?
- What latency can providers measure or contractually support to the business’s specific users, cloud regions, exchanges, or other endpoints?
- Does the workload require proximity to a population center or network hub, or can it tolerate a more remote site?
Assess route diversity end to end, not just the number of providers listed for an area. Two services that depend on the same physical route may not provide the resilience the business expects.
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Compare cooling options against local resource conditions instead of assessing water or energy in isolation. ASHRAE recommends considering regional energy and water constraints together with the cooling strategy, particularly in water-stressed areas. The site checklist in the 2022 delivery report also calls for checking water sources, water quality, wastewater, stormwater, and related infrastructure.
- Water source and rights: Where would water come from? What legal rights and dependable capacity can the project secure during peak demand and drought conditions?
- Quality and cooling fit: What are the source water’s quality characteristics, and are treatment or other measures needed for the proposed cooling system?
- Consumption and trade-offs: For each cooling option, what are the expected water use, energy use, emissions, equipment needs, and operating costs?
- Wastewater and stormwater: Can existing systems handle the project? Would treatment, pumping, storage, erosion control, or discharge approvals be needed?
- Limits and alternatives: What restrictions apply to freshwater withdrawals, discharge, noise, emissions, or backup generators? Are recycled water, closed-loop systems, or other lower-impact options feasible?
Ask the relevant providers and authorities for parcel-specific capacity, rights, restrictions, and approval requirements. A supply that appears adequate in normal conditions may not be dependable during seasonal peaks or drought.
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Canada’s responsible development principles call for minimizing freshwater use, protecting local supplies, considering efficient or closed-loop cooling and waste-heat recovery, and measuring and reporting impacts. These are Canadian government principles, not universal requirements. The underlying practical questions—what resources the project uses and how its effects will be measured—matter wherever the site is being considered.
Is the parcel physically suitable and resilient?
Confirm that the land can accommodate both the facility and its supporting infrastructure. The developable area may need to fit buildings, setbacks, substations, cooling equipment, access, construction staging, and future phases—not merely the initial building footprint.
- Land and legal rights: Is there enough contiguous land for the full plan? What do title records, easements, rights-of-way, existing infrastructure, and prior uses show?
- Ground and site constraints: What do soil conditions and topography mean for construction? Are contamination, wetlands, protected habitats, or other constraints present?
- Hazards and climate: What flood, wildfire, seismic, storm, extreme-temperature, humidity, or other local exposures could affect the site and its supporting infrastructure?
- Access and surroundings: Can roads support construction traffic and ongoing operations? Are nearby hazards or land uses likely to affect access, security, or resilience?
- Expansion: Can future phases fit on land the business controls or can reliably secure, with enough utility capacity to serve them?
ASHRAE’s framework identifies temperature, humidity, flood, seismic, and wildfire exposure as site-planning considerations and recommends allowing for future buildings, substations, and mechanical systems. A parcel assessment should establish which risks are material at that location and what mitigation, design changes, or insurance conditions they could require.
What approvals and community engagement will be required?
Determine the approval path before buying land or making a schedule commitment. A site that looks technically feasible can still be delayed or blocked by land-use rules, environmental review, public processes, or conditions imposed by multiple authorities.
- Is a data center an allowed use on this parcel? If not, would rezoning, a variance, or another entitlement be required?
- Which local, regional, state or provincial, and national authorities have jurisdiction?
- What environmental reviews, public hearings, consultations, or other engagement processes apply?
- What is the critical path through permits and approvals, and which decisions must be made before construction or energization?
- What concerns have nearby residents or local officials raised about electricity, water, noise, emissions, traffic, land use, or visual impacts?
- Are there required or expected commitments for local benefits, workforce development, infrastructure contributions, or impact reporting?
- Are incentives available, what conditions attach to them, and what happens if the project misses a milestone or changes scope?
ASHRAE recommends early coordination with regulators and stakeholders to understand zoning, environmental requirements, permitting timelines, and local concerns. NWI Data Facts describes a sequence of diligence, jurisdictional discussion, entitlements, public engagement, detailed design, and permits; its description says diligence can take months or up to a year, but that is not a universal duration. Confirm the actual process and schedule with the authorities responsible for the parcel.
Early, transparent discussion can also reveal which impacts need to be addressed in the design and what information the community expects to see. Canada’s principles provide one jurisdiction-specific example of calls for engagement and independently verifiable information about power, water, infrastructure, sound, and emissions.
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Can the project be built and operated within budget?
Compare the whole cost and delivery plan, not just the land price or a headline incentive. ASHRAE includes workforce and incentives in site planning, while the 2022 delivery report’s checklist also raises skilled trades, supply chain, tax benefits, and project delivery strategy.
- What will land acquisition, site preparation, utility and fiber extensions, supporting infrastructure, and the selected cooling system cost?
- Which cost and schedule estimates are binding, and which depend on future utility decisions, permits, or incentives?
- Are local construction labor, specialist contractors, equipment suppliers, and transport routes sufficient for the proposed schedule?
- What investment, job, or timing requirements apply to incentives, and what are the consequences of missing them?
- Could competing projects or local supply constraints affect access to power, labor, equipment, or construction capacity?
Ask each provider, authority, and project adviser to identify assumptions, dependencies, and unresolved conditions in its estimate. Treat a potential incentive or nearby piece of infrastructure as uncertain until the relevant party confirms the terms and delivery obligations.
How should candidate sites be compared?
Use pass/fail gates first, then compare sites that clear them. This avoids letting a low land price or an attractive incentive obscure a fundamental problem such as undeliverable power or an unworkable approval path.
- Set minimum requirements. Define acceptable power capacity and delivery timing, network performance, cooling and resource feasibility, approval path, hazard exposure, and space for required expansion.
- Collect parcel-specific evidence. Request written utility and network assessments, land and environmental information, authority feedback, and cost and schedule assumptions for every candidate.
- Screen out failures. Remove sites that miss a non-negotiable requirement or depend on an unresolved condition with no credible route to resolution.
- Compare viable candidates consistently. Use the same workload, capacity phases, schedule, resilience objectives, and cost assumptions for each site.
- Record uncertainty and ownership. For each open issue, note who must resolve it, what evidence is needed, and whether the project can proceed if it remains unresolved.
A comparison table can make the evidence gaps visible:
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|---|---|
| Power | Deliverable capacity, voltage, service date, price and terms, upgrade scope, and confidence in the provider’s commitment. |
| Connectivity | Providers, physical route diversity, latency to required endpoints, construction requirements, and delivery timing. |
| Cooling and resources | Cooling assumptions, energy and water needs, source and rights, wastewater and stormwater capacity, emissions, and restrictions. |
| Approvals and schedule | Entitlements, environmental and public reviews, responsible authorities, critical-path approvals, and unresolved conditions. |
| Resilience and expansion | Hazard exposures, mitigation needs, access, redundancy options, land for future phases, and supporting utility capacity. |
| Economics and delivery | Land and infrastructure costs, operating implications, estimate status, workforce and supply constraints, and incentive conditions. |
| Community and environmental fit | Likely local concerns, proposed mitigation, engagement expectations, measurable impacts, and any commitments. |
This is a practical synthesis, not a universal scoring model. ASHRAE recommends evaluating technical, environmental, economic, and regulatory criteria in a coordinated process. If the business assigns scores or weights, make the assumptions explicit and keep hard feasibility requirements separate from preferences.
What should be confirmed before making a commitment?
Before buying or leasing land, or approving a major development milestone, turn the leading candidate’s assumptions into current evidence from the parties responsible for them. The exact approvals, utility terms, incentives, and infrastructure schedules are location-specific and can change.
- Written utility confirmation of capacity, connection steps, upgrade responsibilities, schedule assumptions, expansion potential, and commercial terms.
- Written network-provider information on service availability, physical routes, construction needs, and supportable performance to the required endpoints.
- Evidence of land rights, parcel constraints, site conditions, and any environmental or hazard investigations needed for design.
- Feedback from the relevant authorities on land use, required reviews, public process, and the approval sequence.
- Water, wastewater, stormwater, and cooling assessments based on the proposed design and local conditions.
- A cost and delivery plan that separates confirmed commitments from estimates, incentives, and dependencies still subject to approval.
Where a decision depends on engineering, legal rights, environmental conditions, utility access, or permitting, use qualified advisers to investigate the parcel and verify the responsible party’s statements. A site-selection decision is only as reliable as the evidence behind its critical assumptions.
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