Land and Expand: DPO, Microsoft, JLL and BlackChamber, Prologis, Core Scientific, Overwatch Capital

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Land and Expand: DPO, Microsoft, JLL and BlackChamber, Prologis, Core Scientific, Overwatch Capital

Land and Expand is a periodic feature at Data Center Frontier highlighting the latest data center development news, including new sites, land acquisitions and campus expansions. Here are some of the new and notable developments from hyperscale and colocation data center developers and operators about which we’ve been reading lately.

DPO to Develop $200 Million AI Data Center in Wisconsin Rapids; Strategic Partnership with Billerud’s CWPCo Unlocks Hydroelectric Power for High-Density AI Compute

Digital Power Optimization (DPO) is moving forward with plans to build a $200 million high-performance computing (HPC) data center in Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin. The project, designed to support up to 20 megawatts (MW) of artificial intelligence (AI) computing, leverages an innovative partnership with Consolidated Water Power Company (CWPCo), a subsidiary of global packaging leader Billerud.

DPO specializes in developing and operating data centers optimized for power-dense computing. By partnering with utilities and independent power producers, DPO colocates its facilities at energy generation sites, ensuring direct access to sustainable power for AI, HPC, and blockchain computing. The company is privately held.

Leveraging Power Infrastructure for Speed-to-Energization

CWPCo, a regulated utility subsidiary, has operated hydroelectric generation assets since 1894, reliably serving industrial and commercial customers in Wisconsin Rapids, Biron, and Stevens Point. Parent company Billerud is a global leader in high-performance packaging materials, committed to sustainability and innovation. The company operates nine production facilities across Sweden, the USA, and Finland, employing 5,800 people in over 19 countries.

The data center will be powered by CWPCo’s renewable hydroelectric assets, tapping into the utility’s existing 32 megawatts of generation capacity. The partnership grants DPO a long-term land lease—extending up to 50 years—alongside interconnection rights to an already-energized substation and a firm, reliable power supply.

“AI infrastructure is evolving at an unprecedented pace, and access to power-dense sites is critical,” said Andrew Webber, CEO of Digital Power Optimization. “With our agreements in place, we’re able to move quickly, avoiding the long lead times associated with greenfield development. Our model of repurposing underutilized energy assets positions us to bring capacity online significantly faster than traditional hyperscale projects.”

Webber emphasized that the sustained demand for high-density AI rack space will continue well into the 2030s, making speed-to-market a competitive advantage.

A Model for Sustainable Growth in Digital Infrastructure

The Wisconsin Rapids project represents a new approach to energy-efficient digital infrastructure. By integrating directly with CWPCo’s existing hydroelectric generation, the project maximizes renewable energy utilization while diversifying the utility’s customer base.

“This partnership allows us to optimize our energy resources while creating new economic opportunities for the region,” said Martin Burkhardt, Director of CWPCo. “The ability to attract cutting-edge technology while leveraging our existing assets is a win-win for both our company and the Wisconsin Rapids community.”

Supporting the Buildout

DPO has enlisted Stantec, a global leader in sustainable engineering and design, to provide consulting and engineering services. The company is actively working with city and state officials to finalize permitting ahead of construction.

The pre-development phase has been backed by a consortium led by Salutem Capital, a New York-based family office with a strong investment focus on AI, digital infrastructure, and transformative technologies.

“The AI revolution is fueling massive demand for advanced compute capacity, and DPO is proving its ability to execute in this space,” said Justin and Cameron Adelipour, Managing Partners at Salutem Capital. “This project is a testament to DPO’s strategic vision and ability to deliver next-generation infrastructure solutions.”

DPO expects to bring the facility online in 2026, reinforcing Wisconsin Rapids as an emerging hub for AI-driven digital infrastructure.

Microsoft Pauses $3.3 Billion Wisconsin Data Center Amid Strategic Review

In May 2024, Microsoft unveiled an ambitious $3.3 billion investment to transform Southeast Wisconsin into a hub for artificial intelligence and cloud computing. This initiative included the construction of a state-of-the-art data center campus in Mount Pleasant, aimed at bolstering the company’s AI and cloud infrastructure. The project was poised to create approximately 2,300 construction jobs by 2025 and establish 2,000 permanent positions over time.

However, by January 2025, Microsoft announced a strategic pause on portions of the development. The company stated that it was reassessing its plans for the second phase of the Mount Pleasant data center to evaluate the scope and consider recent technological advancements that might influence the facility’s design. Despite this pause, Microsoft reaffirmed its commitment to the project, emphasizing that the first phase remained on track for completion within the year.

Local officials in Mount Pleasant expressed confidence that the temporary halt would not impact the overall scope or nature of the project. Sean Ryan, a spokesperson for the village, noted, “We have no reason to believe this will affect the overall scope or nature of Microsoft’s project.”

Such news developments underscore the dynamic nature of the data center industry, where rapid technological advancements necessitate continual reassessment and adaptation of infrastructure projects to meet evolving demands.

JLL Secures Over $1.2 Billion in Construction Financing for BlackChamber Group’s Northern Virginia Data Center Expansion

JLL’s Capital Markets group has arranged more than $1.2 billion in construction financing to support The BlackChamber Group’s continued expansion in Northern Virginia, the world’s largest data center market. The funds will drive the development of four hyperscale powered shell campuses, collectively designed to deliver over 740 megawatts of capacity.

The financing is part of BlackChamber’s broader Northern Virginia development strategy, which encompasses eight campuses with a combined potential of nearly 1.5 gigawatts of capacity across more than six million square feet. JLL’s Capital Markets Debt Advisory team, led by Jamie Leachman, Senior Managing Director and Co-Head of the firm’s Washington, D.C. office, and Drake Greer, Senior Director within JLL’s National Data Center Capital Markets team, advised BlackChamber on the transactions.

The BlackChamber Group is a purpose-built, vertically integrated data center developer and SEC-registered investment adviser headquartered in Washington, D.C. Designed to serve as an optimized real estate partner for the world’s leading hyperscale technology firms, BlackChamber brings deep industry expertise and a proven track record of delivering scalable, high-performance data center solutions.

“Against a dynamic and challenging market backdrop, JLL leveraged its relationships, creativity, and expertise to drive seamless and unrelenting execution with a variety of different lenders, ultimately delivering value-accretive and strategically beneficial financing solutions,” said Conley Patton, Managing Partner at BlackChamber.

Unyielding Demand for Data Center Capacity in Northern Virginia

Northern Virginia’s data center market continues to outpace global competitors, with more than 4.6 gigawatts of capacity as of the first half of 2024. The region saw an unprecedented 1.3 gigawatts of absorption in 2024, closing the year with a vacancy rate of just 0.4%. With over 5.8 gigawatts of additional development in the pipeline, the market remains at the forefront of digital infrastructure expansion.

“We are seeing incredible demand for data centers, with a consistent appetite from Cloud, AI, and Enterprise tenants,” said Leachman. “This demand has driven increased attention from a variety of capital sources.”

JLL’s Greer added that BlackChamber’s recent financing activity underscores the evolving nature of data center capital markets. “What was once a niche alternative asset class has become a primary focus for institutional capital. The diversity of lenders in these transactions—including bank balance sheets, infrastructure funds, and private credit vehicles backed by insurance capital—demonstrates the strong investment appetite for data centers.”

JLL’s Capital Markets group provides a full spectrum of financial solutions for real estate and infrastructure investors. Its National Data Center Capital Markets team, led by Senior Managing Director Carl Beardsley, continues to be a key advisor in facilitating large-scale data center financing transactions.

Prologis Charts Ambitious 10 GW Data Center Expansion Over the Next Decade; Industrial REIT Eyes Long-Term Growth in Digital Infrastructure

Prologis, the global leader in logistics and industrial real estate, is making a major push into the data center sector, outlining a plan to develop 10 gigawatts of capacity over the next ten years. The company’s expansion strategy builds upon its growing pipeline of data center projects, reflecting its deepening commitment to digital infrastructure.

A Growing Data Center Pipeline

During a recent earnings call, Prologis President Dan Letter provided an update on the company’s expanding data center footprint. Prologis currently has 1.4 gigawatts of secured power for data center development and an additional 1.6 gigawatts in advanced stages of procurement. The company has also submitted applications for another 1.5 gigawatts, bringing its near-term pipeline to 4.5 gigawatts.

“But all in, it’s 10 GW over the next ten years,” Letter said. “And that doesn’t even touch upon the universe of opportunities. This is coming from a portfolio of 6,000 buildings and 15,000 acres of land that we own or control. So the universe of opportunities is much greater than that.”

Strategic Partnerships and Monetization Considerations

Prologis entered the data center space during the COVID-19 pandemic and has frequently partnered with Skybox Datacenters to build facilities that are then leased or sold to hyperscalers and other operators.

One of the latest examples is the sale of a powered shell data center in Elk Grove, Illinois. Initially developed as a logistics asset, the site was converted into a powered shell before Prologis secured a build-to-suit turnkey transaction with a hyperscaler last fall. The project was ultimately sold to asset manager HMC Capital.

“Elk Grove started out being a powered shell and ended up being a turnkey,” said CEO Hamid Moghadam. “That will maybe increase the capital spend by a factor or two.”

As the company scales its data center business, it is actively considering how to structure its long-term investment strategy in the sector.

“We have not yet made the decision as to what we’re going to do with the capitalization of our data center business long term,” Moghadam said. “The current thinking is that we are a developer, and that we’ll monetize and sell these assets upon completion. And we use the capital that they generate as a way of expanding our core logistics business. That’s the strategy today.”

He noted that Prologis may consider expanding its strategy to include fund management, either through a dedicated fund or by integrating data center investments into its existing open-end funds. However, he emphasized that the company has no plans to hold a 100% interest in data centers on its balance sheet due to the capital-intensive nature of the asset class.

“One thing we will not do is hold 100 percent interest in data centers on our balance sheet because the capital requirements of that are going to be—even for us—pretty significant,” he said.

Leadership and Industry Expertise

Prologis’ data center initiatives are led by industry veteran Chris Curtis, co-founder of Compass Datacenters, who joined the company last year to drive its digital infrastructure expansion. With a deep bench of expertise and a robust development pipeline, Prologis is positioning itself as a key player in the future of hyperscale and powered shell data center development.

Prologis’ deep real estate portfolio and strategic approach to monetizing digital infrastructure place it in a strong position to support hyperscale expansion while fueling its core logistics business. As data center demand continues to surge, the company’s long-term strategy and development pipeline will be closely watched by industry stakeholders.

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Versa Networks launches sovereign SASE, challenging cloud-only security model

Versa’s sovereign SASE offering is designed to be highly customizable, allowing customers to choose their own compute resources, whether on-premises or in a private cloud. The company provides the software and recommends the hardware, but the customer maintains full control over the deployment. The system supports both containerized and virtual

Fortinet speeds threat detection with improved FortiAnalyzer

The package also now integrates with FortiAI, the vendor’s genAI assistant, to better support analytics and telemetry to help security teams speed threat investigation and response, the vendor stated. “FortiAI identifies the threats that need analysis from the data collected by FortiAnalyzer, primarily collected from FortiGates. By automating the collection,

Microsoft braids anyons into topological cubits on new Majorana quantum chip

Traditional qubits are extremely vulnerable to any change in their environment, which makes it difficult to scale up a quantum computer. But the new topological qubits need ten times less error-correction overhead, according to Microsoft. Traditional qubits also require analog controls, like turning a dial. Topological qubits, by comparison, can

Aryaka adds AI-powered observability to SASE platform

Nadkarni explained that Aryaka runs unsupervised machine learning models on the data to identify anomalies and outliers in the data. For example, the models may detect a sudden spike in traffic to a domain that has not been seen before. This unsupervised analysis helps surface potential issues or areas of

Power Moves: SOWEC’s new co-chair and more

Claire Mack has joined the Scottish Offshore Wind Energy Council (SOWEC) as its new industry co-chair. Mack was appointed by minister for climate action Dr Alasdair Allan to represent Scotland’s offshore wind industry for a two-year term. She will provide strategic leadership to SOWEC and work alongside the partnership’s subgroups and developer forum to deliver sector growth. In addition to her new role, Mack has been chief executive of Scottish Renewables since 2017. She is responsible for leading the organisation’s work to grow Scotland’s renewable energy industry and maintaining its position as a global leader in clean power. She replaces Brian McFarlane, SSE Renewables head of offshore development, who announced his intention to step down as SOWEC industry co-chair late last year. Since SOWEC’s inception in 2019, he has acted on behalf of Scotland’s offshore wind industry to drive forward SOWEC’s mission to coordinate and grow the sector. Acting minister for climate action Allan said: “Offshore wind is at the heart of the Scottish Government’s economic development agenda and the SOWEC is vital to driving forward action in support of the sector.” Mack added: “Offshore wind is one of Scotland’s key assets and our ability to turn our 40GW pipeline into successfully delivered projects is pivotal to our environmental and economic aspirations. “As I step into the role of co-chair at SOWEC during this critical point for Scotland’s £4 billion offshore wind sector, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my predecessor, Brian McFarlane, for his untiring dedication and contribution to the sector.” © Supplied by Offshore Energies UKOEUK operator and developer chair Doris Reiter. Doris Reiter, BP senior vice-president for the North, has taken over as operator and developer chair on the board of Offshore Energies UK (OEUK). Having previously served as vice chair to the board,

Expansion of Corpus Christi LNG in Texas Starts Delivery

Cheniere Energy Inc. has produced the first liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargo from a project expanding the Corpus Christi LNG (CCL) terminal in the namesake Texan city. CCL Stage 3 has seven midscale trains with an expected production capacity of over 10 million metric tons per annum (MMtpa), raising CCL’s output capacity to over 25 MMtpa from 10 trains. “First LNG production from the first train of the CCL Stage 3 Project was achieved in December 2024, and the first cargo of LNG was produced in February 2025”, Houston, Texas-based Cheniere said in its quarterly report. It plans to build two more mid-scale trains adjacent to the Stage 3 project for a further capacity addition of about 3 MMtpa. “In June 2024, we received a positive Environmental Assessment from the FERC and anticipate receiving all remaining necessary regulatory approvals for the project in 2025”, the report said. Citing new capacity unlocked from the expansion, Cheniere expects to surpass last year’s earnings. Consolidated adjusted EBITDA guidance for 2025 is $6.5 billion-$7 billion, compared to the actual 2024 figure of $6.2 billion. Distributable cash flow this year is expected to be $4.1 billion-$4.6 billion, compared to the actual 2024 figure of $3.7 billion. “We expect 2025 to be another record year for LNG production as Stage 3 trains are completed, and we look forward to delivering financial results within these ranges and further enhancing the long-term value proposition of Cheniere”, commented president and chief executive Jack Fusco. Last year Cheniere exported a record 646 LNG cargoes, or 2.33 trillion British thermal units. Cheniere posted $977 million in net profit for the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2024 and $3.25 billion for the full year. The figures were down 29 percent and 67 percent by year-ago comparisons, respectively. On a diluted basis, Q4 earnings

Leveraging surplus interconnection could unleash 800 GW of energy the US needs today

Cassady Craighill is the technical education director at GridLab. The challenges facing the grid can often feel intimidating and beyond grasp. How much of the load growth is hype and how much is real? How do we ensure the financial burden of updating our grid and leading the world in energy innovation does not disproportionally fall on residential customers? How do operators and utilities prepare for the next cataclysmic flood, fire, or storm? How do we ensure that our 21st energy grid serves everyone across the country amidst a patchwork of different state policies and resources? Those are all big questions that will take years to get exactly right. Luckily, there is an out-of-the-box solution laying on the table today that will get hundreds of energy projects online in no time and will save consumers money. Surplus interconnection, which allows new energy projects to plug into existing interconnection infrastructure at plants with low capacity factors, could nearly double the generation in the United States by 2030 and at a fraction of the cost and time of a traditional interconnection process. Affordable, clean, and abundant power is key to keeping businesses operating in the U.S. This sentiment dominates the rhetoric in Energy Secretary Chris Wright’s first Secretarial order issued this month and his message of “energy addition.” At its core, surplus interconnection is adding energy resources to the grid as quickly and cheaply as possible. In his order, Secretary Wright insists “we must expand energy production and reduce energy costs for American families and businesses.” Leveraging existing interconnection capacity at thermal plants is the fastest way to expand energy production by shaving years off the interconnection timeline, saving about $200 billion by avoiding costly new infrastructure and lengthy new buildouts, and adding reliable resources to the grid. We need this solution

AR7 reform needs to go further, industry leader argues

The UK government has announced consultations to reform its flagship renewables funding scheme, the Allocation Round (AR). The changes to the initiative will see a relaxation of eligibility criteria on planning consent for fixed-bottom offshore wind while changing how budgets for the technology are set and published. This comes soon after the government unveiled plans to deliver up to £200 million of investment to offshore wind developers in this year’s bidding round for renewable energy. The “clean industry bonus” is set to support offshore wind developers, on the condition they prioritise their investment in places “that need it most”. The cash will be available to all offshore wind projects that come through the next auction, AR7, this year. This offers successful bidders a contract for difference (CfD), a fixed contract price on the energy produced. The bonus will come with an initial £27 million per gigawatt (GW) of offshore wind projects. Offering needed ‘certainty’ for wind developers Friday’s update sets out to unlock further investment in the UK’s green energy agenda as it gives wind firms “the certainty they need”. Energy secretary Ed Miliband said:  “Our bold new reforms will give developers the certainty they need to build clean energy in the UK, supporting our mission to become a clean energy superpower and bring down bills for good.” The UK government has touted last year’s AR6 as a success, following 2023’s AR5 which delivered no new offshore wind projects. Last year delivered 3.7GW of offshore wind capacity, despite this, the scheme still fell short of what was needed to deliver net zero ambitions. © Supplied by Flotation EnergyA floating wind turbine, similar to those that will make up the Green Volt development. Government figures, which clump together offshore wind and floating wind, claim that 5GW was unlocked in last year’s auction.

Dan McGrail: What to know about the new interim CEO of GB Energy

The Labour government has appointed Dan McGrail, the chief executive of trade body RenewableUK, as the interim leader of its flagship state-owned GB Energy. McGrail will take up the Aberdeen-based role in March on a six-month secondment, amid concerns over the potential difficulty of finding a suitable permanent candidate. Announcing the appointment, UK energy secretary Ed Miliband and GB Energy’s startup chair, Juergen Maier, praised McGrail’s experience in renewable energy and his ability to drive investment and job creation in the sector. Meanwhile, McGrail said he “can’t wait to get stuck in” at GB Energy, where he will once again work under Maier, his former boss at Siemens UK. “There is no doubt at all that delivering the government’s Clean Power 2030 mission is a generational opportunity for the UK – and whilst it faces hurdles – some of them big, Great British Energy gives the people of the UK a stake in that opportunity and role to play to work alongside the amazing companies in this industry to achieve even more,” he said. Dan McGrail’s career McGrail joined RenewableUK as chief executive in May 2021 after a long career at Siemens UK, joining the company in 2004 as a commercial project manager. He rose through the ranks of the Siemens, holding roles in the company’s offshore wind turbine manufacturing unit and as director of strategy for north west Europe. During this time, RenewableUK said he led Siemens plans to develop the offshore wind turbine blade factory and port facility in Hull. McGrail was part of negotiations with the UK government and oversaw a £160m investment from Siemens in the facility, alongside a £150m investment from Associated British Ports to revitalise Hull’s Alexandra Dock. © Supplied by FTI ConsultingSiemens Gamesa’s base in Hull After his involvement in the Hull project,

Miami Chosen by Saudi Arabia for Second USA Investment Office

Saudi Arabia will open an investment office in Miami, after the kingdom’s de-facto ruler pledged to boost US investment. In addition to US investments, Saudi Arabia will use Miami as a “gateway” to South America, Minister of Investment Khalid Bin Abdulaziz Al-Falih said Thursday at the Future Investment Initiative Institute’s summit in Miami Beach. The Invest Saudi outpost in the Florida city will be the second in the US after Washington. Miami has been raising its economic and political profile in recent years, as a string of investment and banking firms have boosted their presence there. Financial conglomerate Citadel is relocating to Miami while Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Dan Sundheim’s D1 Capital Partners are among those that have expanded there. “We want connectivity into the important hubs of where important business entities are converging, and Miami is emerging as one, certainly amongst some of the funds and family offices, and also in tech now,” Al-Falih said in an interview after his talk. “We also believe Miami gives us good connectivity into Latin America.” Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman has promised President Donald Trump that the oil-rich kingdom would boost trade and investment in the US by $600 billion over the next four years. Trump called for more. However, Saudi Arabia may not be the money spigot participants at the third FII forum want it to be. The kingdom is facing a budget deficit, and foreign investment may be at odds with its own “Saudi First” agenda to make the country a diversified economy fit for the coming decades. WHAT DO YOU THINK? Generated by readers, the comments included herein do not reflect the views and opinions of Rigzone. All comments are subject to editorial review. Off-topic, inappropriate or insulting comments will be removed. MORE FROM THIS AUTHOR Bloomberg

Ireland says there will be no computation without generation

Stanish said that, in 2023, she wrote a paper that predicted “by 2028, more than 70% of multinational enterprises will alter their data center strategies due to limited energy supplies and data center moratoriums, up from only about 5% in 2023. It has been interesting watching this trend evolve as expected, with Ireland being a major force in this conversation since the boycotts against data center growth started a few years ago.” Fair, equitable, and stable electricity allocation, she said, “means that the availability of electricity for digital services is not guaranteed in the future, and I expect these policies, data center moratoriums, and regional rejections will only continue and expand moving forward.” Stanish pointed out that this trend is not just occurring in Ireland. “Many studies show that, globally, enterprises’ digital technologies are consuming energy at a faster rate than overall growth in energy supply (though, to be clear, these studies mostly assume a static position on energy efficiency of current technologies, and don’t take into account potential for nuclear or hydrogen to assuage some of these supply issues).” If taken at face value, she said, this means that a lack of resources could cause widespread electricity shortages in data centers over the next several years. To mitigate this, Stanish said, “so far, data center moratoriums and related constraints (including reduced tax incentives) have been enacted in the US (specifically Virginia and Georgia), Denmark, Singapore, and other countries, in response to concerns about the excessive energy consumption of IT, particularly regarding compute-intense AI workloads and concerns regarding an IT energy monopoly in certain regions. As a result, governments (federal, state, county, etc.) are working to ensure that consumption does not outpace capacity.” Changes needed In its report, the CRU stated, “a safe and secure supply of energy is essential

Perspective: Can We Solve the AI Data Center Power Crisis with Microgrids?

President Trump announced a$500 billion private sector investment in the nation’s Artificial Intelligence (AI) infrastructure last month. The investment will come from The Stargate Project, a joint venture between OpenAI, SoftBank, Oracle and MGX, which intends to build 20 new AI data centers in the U.S in the next four to five years. The Stargate Project committed$100 billion for immediate deployment and construction has already begun on its first data center in Texas. At approximately a half a million square feet each, the partners say these new facilities will cement America’s leadership in AI, create jobs and stimulate economic growth. Stargate is not the only game in town, either. Microsoft is expected to invest$80 billion in AI data center development in 2025, with Google, AWS and Meta also spending big. While all this investment in AI infrastructure is certainly exciting, experts say there’s one lingering question that’s yet to be answered and it’s a big one: How are we going to power all these AI data centers? This will be one of the many questions tackled duringMicrogrid Knowledge’s annual conference, which will be held in Texas April 15-17 at the Sheraton Dallas. “Powering Data Centers: Collaborative Microgrid Solutions for a Growing Market” will be one of the key sessions on April 16. Industry experts will gather to discuss how private entities, developers and utilities can work together to deploy microgrids and distributed energy technologies that address the data center industry’s power needs. The panel will share solutions, technologies and strategies that will favorably position data centers in the energy queue. In advance of this session, we sat down with two microgrid experts to learn more about the challenges facing the data center industry and how microgrids can address the sector’s growing energy needs. We spoke with Michael Stadler, co-founder and

Data Center Tours: Iron Mountain VA-1, Manassas, Virginia

Iron Mountain Northern Virginia Overview Iron Mountain’s Northern Virginia data centers VA-1 through VA-7 are situated on a 142-acre highly secure campus in Prince William County, Virginia. Located at 11680 Hayden Road in Manassas, Iron Mountain VA-1 spans 167,958 sq. ft. and harbors 12.4 MW of total capacity to meet colocation needs. The 36 MW VA-2 facility stands nearby. The total campus features a mixture of single and multi-tenant facilities which together provide more than 2,000,000 SF of highly efficient green colocation space for enterprises, federal agencies, service providers and hyperscale clouds. The company notes that its Manassas campus offers tax savings compared to Ashburn and exceptional levels of energy-efficiency as well as a diverse and accessible ecosystem of cloud, network and other service providers. Iron Mountain’s Virginia campus has 9 total planned data centers, with 5 operational facilities to date and two more data centers coming soon. VA-2 recently became the first data center in the United States to achieve DCOS Maturity Level 3. As we continued the tour, Kinra led the way toward the break room, an area where customers can grab coffee or catch up on work. Unlike the high-end aesthetic of some other colocation providers, Iron Mountain’s approach is more practical and focused on functionality. At the secure shipping and receiving area, Kinra explained the process for handling customer equipment. “This is where our customers ship their equipment into,” he said. “They submit a ticket, send their shipments in, and we’ll take it, put it aside for them, and let them know when it’s here. Sometimes they ask us to take it to their environment, which we’ll do for them via a smart hands ticket.” Power Infrastructure and Security Measures The VA-1 campus is supported by a single substation, providing the necessary power for its growing

Land and Expand: DPO, Microsoft, JLL and BlackChamber, Prologis, Core Scientific, Overwatch Capital

Land and Expand is a periodic feature at Data Center Frontier highlighting the latest data center development news, including new sites, land acquisitions and campus expansions. Here are some of the new and notable developments from hyperscale and colocation data center developers and operators about which we’ve been reading lately. DPO to Develop $200 Million AI Data Center in Wisconsin Rapids; Strategic Partnership with Billerud’s CWPCo Unlocks Hydroelectric Power for High-Density AI Compute Digital Power Optimization (DPO) is moving forward with plans to build a $200 million high-performance computing (HPC) data center in Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin. The project, designed to support up to 20 megawatts (MW) of artificial intelligence (AI) computing, leverages an innovative partnership with Consolidated Water Power Company (CWPCo), a subsidiary of global packaging leader Billerud. DPO specializes in developing and operating data centers optimized for power-dense computing. By partnering with utilities and independent power producers, DPO colocates its facilities at energy generation sites, ensuring direct access to sustainable power for AI, HPC, and blockchain computing. The company is privately held. Leveraging Power Infrastructure for Speed-to-Energization CWPCo, a regulated utility subsidiary, has operated hydroelectric generation assets since 1894, reliably serving industrial and commercial customers in Wisconsin Rapids, Biron, and Stevens Point. Parent company Billerud is a global leader in high-performance packaging materials, committed to sustainability and innovation. The company operates nine production facilities across Sweden, the USA, and Finland, employing 5,800 people in over 19 countries. The data center will be powered by CWPCo’s renewable hydroelectric assets, tapping into the utility’s existing 32 megawatts of generation capacity. The partnership grants DPO a long-term land lease—extending up to 50 years—alongside interconnection rights to an already-energized substation and a firm, reliable power supply. “AI infrastructure is evolving at an unprecedented pace, and access to power-dense sites is critical,” said Andrew

Data center spending to top $1 trillion by 2029 as AI transforms infrastructure

His projections account for recent advances in AI and data center efficiency, he says. For example, the open-source AI model from Chinese company DeepSeek seems to have shown that an LLM can produce very high-quality results at a very low cost with some clever architectural changes to how the models work. These improvements are likely to be quickly replicated by other AI companies. “A lot of these companies are trying to push out more efficient models,” says Fung. “There’s a lot of effort to reduce costs and to make it more efficient.” In addition, hyperscalers are designing and building their own chips, optimized for their AI workloads. Just the accelerator market alone is projected to reach $392 billion by 2029, Dell’Oro predicts. By that time, custom accelerators will outpace commercially available accelerators such as GPUs. The deployment of dedicated AI servers also has an impact on networking, power and cooling. As a result, spending on data center physical infrastructure (DCPI) will also increase, though at a more moderate pace, growing by 14% annually to $61 billion in 2029. “DCPI deployments are a prerequisite to support AI workloads,” says Tam Dell’Oro, founder of Dell’Oro Group, in the report. The research firm raised its outlook in this area due to the fact that actual 2024 results exceeded its expectations, and demand is spreading from tier one to tier two cloud service providers. In addition, governments and tier one telecom operators are getting involved in data center expansion, making it a long-term trend.

The Future of Property Values and Power in Virginia’s Loudoun County and ‘Data Center Alley’

Loudoun County’s FY 2026 Proposed Budget Is Released This week, Virginia’s Loudoun County released its FY 2026 Proposed Budget. The document notes how data centers are a major driver of revenue growth in Loudoun County, contributing significantly to both personal and real property tax revenues. As noted above, data centers generate almost 50% of Loudoun County property tax revenues. Importantly, Loudoun County has now implemented measures such as a Revenue Stabilization Fund (RSF) to manage the risks associated with this revenue dependency. The FY 2026 budget reflects the strong growth in data center-related revenue, allowing for tax rate reductions while still funding critical services and infrastructure projects. But the county is mindful of the potential volatility in data center revenue and is planning for long-term fiscal sustainability. The FY 2026 Proposed Budget notes how Loudoun County’s revenue from personal property taxes, particularly from data centers, has grown significantly. From FY 2013 to FY 2026, revenue from this source has increased from $60 million to over $800 million. Additionally, the county said its FY 2026 Proposed Budget benefits from $150 million in new revenue from the personal property tax portfolio, with $133 million generated specifically from computer equipment (primarily data centers). The county said data centers have also significantly impacted the real property tax portfolio. In Tax Year (TY) 2025, 73% of the county’s commercial portfolio is composed of data centers. The county said its overall commercial portfolio experienced a 50% increase in value between TY 2024 and TY 2025, largely driven by the appreciation of data center properties. RSF Meets Positive Economic Outlook The Loudoun County Board of Supervisors created the aformentioned Revenue Stabilization Fund (RSF) to manage the risks associated with the county’s reliance on data center-related revenue. The RSF targets 10% of data center-related real and personal property tax

Microsoft will invest $80B in AI data centers in fiscal 2025

And Microsoft isn’t the only one that is ramping up its investments into AI-enabled data centers. Rival cloud service providers are all investing in either upgrading or opening new data centers to capture a larger chunk of business from developers and users of large language models (LLMs). In a report published in October 2024, Bloomberg Intelligence estimated that demand for generative AI would push Microsoft, AWS, Google, Oracle, Meta, and Apple would between them devote $200 billion to capex in 2025, up from $110 billion in 2023. Microsoft is one of the biggest spenders, followed closely by Google and AWS, Bloomberg Intelligence said. Its estimate of Microsoft’s capital spending on AI, at $62.4 billion for calendar 2025, is lower than Smith’s claim that the company will invest $80 billion in the fiscal year to June 30, 2025. Both figures, though, are way higher than Microsoft’s 2020 capital expenditure of “just” $17.6 billion. The majority of the increased spending is tied to cloud services and the expansion of AI infrastructure needed to provide compute capacity for OpenAI workloads. Separately, last October Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said his company planned total capex spend of $75 billion in 2024 and even more in 2025, with much of it going to AWS, its cloud computing division.

John Deere unveils more autonomous farm machines to address skill labor shortage

Join our daily and weekly newsletters for the latest updates and exclusive content on industry-leading AI coverage. Learn More Self-driving tractors might be the path to self-driving cars. John Deere has revealed a new line of autonomous machines and tech across agriculture, construction and commercial landscaping. The Moline, Illinois-based John Deere has been in business for 187 years, yet it’s been a regular as a non-tech company showing off technology at the big tech trade show in Las Vegas and is back at CES 2025 with more autonomous tractors and other vehicles. This is not something we usually cover, but John Deere has a lot of data that is interesting in the big picture of tech. The message from the company is that there aren’t enough skilled farm laborers to do the work that its customers need. It’s been a challenge for most of the last two decades, said Jahmy Hindman, CTO at John Deere, in a briefing. Much of the tech will come this fall and after that. He noted that the average farmer in the U.S. is over 58 and works 12 to 18 hours a day to grow food for us. And he said the American Farm Bureau Federation estimates there are roughly 2.4 million farm jobs that need to be filled annually; and the agricultural work force continues to shrink. (This is my hint to the anti-immigration crowd). John Deere’s autonomous 9RX Tractor. Farmers can oversee it using an app. While each of these industries experiences their own set of challenges, a commonality across all is skilled labor availability. In construction, about 80% percent of contractors struggle to find skilled labor. And in commercial landscaping, 86% of landscaping business owners can’t find labor to fill open positions, he said. “They have to figure out how to do

2025 playbook for enterprise AI success, from agents to evals

Join our daily and weekly newsletters for the latest updates and exclusive content on industry-leading AI coverage. Learn More 2025 is poised to be a pivotal year for enterprise AI. The past year has seen rapid innovation, and this year will see the same. This has made it more critical than ever to revisit your AI strategy to stay competitive and create value for your customers. From scaling AI agents to optimizing costs, here are the five critical areas enterprises should prioritize for their AI strategy this year. 1. Agents: the next generation of automation AI agents are no longer theoretical. In 2025, they’re indispensable tools for enterprises looking to streamline operations and enhance customer interactions. Unlike traditional software, agents powered by large language models (LLMs) can make nuanced decisions, navigate complex multi-step tasks, and integrate seamlessly with tools and APIs. At the start of 2024, agents were not ready for prime time, making frustrating mistakes like hallucinating URLs. They started getting better as frontier large language models themselves improved. “Let me put it this way,” said Sam Witteveen, cofounder of Red Dragon, a company that develops agents for companies, and that recently reviewed the 48 agents it built last year. “Interestingly, the ones that we built at the start of the year, a lot of those worked way better at the end of the year just because the models got better.” Witteveen shared this in the video podcast we filmed to discuss these five big trends in detail. Models are getting better and hallucinating less, and they’re also being trained to do agentic tasks. Another feature that the model providers are researching is a way to use the LLM as a judge, and as models get cheaper (something we’ll cover below), companies can use three or more models to

OpenAI’s red teaming innovations define new essentials for security leaders in the AI era

Join our daily and weekly newsletters for the latest updates and exclusive content on industry-leading AI coverage. Learn More OpenAI has taken a more aggressive approach to red teaming than its AI competitors, demonstrating its security teams’ advanced capabilities in two areas: multi-step reinforcement and external red teaming. OpenAI recently released two papers that set a new competitive standard for improving the quality, reliability and safety of AI models in these two techniques and more. The first paper, “OpenAI’s Approach to External Red Teaming for AI Models and Systems,” reports that specialized teams outside the company have proven effective in uncovering vulnerabilities that might otherwise have made it into a released model because in-house testing techniques may have missed them. In the second paper, “Diverse and Effective Red Teaming with Auto-Generated Rewards and Multi-Step Reinforcement Learning,” OpenAI introduces an automated framework that relies on iterative reinforcement learning to generate a broad spectrum of novel, wide-ranging attacks. Going all-in on red teaming pays practical, competitive dividends It’s encouraging to see competitive intensity in red teaming growing among AI companies. When Anthropic released its AI red team guidelines in June of last year, it joined AI providers including Google, Microsoft, Nvidia, OpenAI, and even the U.S.’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), which all had released red teaming frameworks. Investing heavily in red teaming yields tangible benefits for security leaders in any organization. OpenAI’s paper on external red teaming provides a detailed analysis of how the company strives to create specialized external teams that include cybersecurity and subject matter experts. The goal is to see if knowledgeable external teams can defeat models’ security perimeters and find gaps in their security, biases and controls that prompt-based testing couldn’t find. What makes OpenAI’s recent papers noteworthy is how well they define using human-in-the-middle