How to Prepare Data Center Sites for An Attraction Strategy
October 16, 2023
If you are looking to attract a data center to your community, it’s critical to understand how to prepare sites or product that would be attractive and meet their needs. A data center attraction strategy must include available sites, ideally around 500 acres, along with the infrastructure to support them.
Consider Infrastructure Needs First
Ensuring your community has the infrastructure to support data center operations is an important first step in developing an attraction strategy. If the proper infrastructure is not in place, or cannot be developed, this may not be the correct industry to target.
One notable example of success is the Omaha Public Power District (OPPD) in Nebraska. Through innovative partnerships and a collaborative approach, OPPD, along with various local partners, successfully attracted Facebook to build a massive data center running entirely on renewable energy. OPPD’s ability to provide energy from renewable sources was critical for Meta choosing the location for their data center, a project that resulted in over $1.6 billion in investment.
