DATA CENTER RADAR · Published Oct 31, 2026 · Sources checked October 31, 2026
A project record might list 130 megawatts, a building’s floor area or a campus’s eventual buildout. These figures describe different aspects of scale. None establishes when a supplier needs to quote, manufacture or deliver equipment.
Read the unit, measurement boundary, building or phase, source date and development evidence together. Then confirm the package’s purchasing route. The contractor and capacity field guide is a companion for checking individual record fields.
Power, area and money answer different questions
MW and GW measure power; 1 GW equals 1,000 MW. Square feet measure area. Dollars measure a financial quantity whose scope needs its own definition. A market-revenue forecast is not a capacity unit. Read the investment figures guide before comparing spending with a project’s electrical scale.
Even a power figure needs a boundary. It may describe IT equipment load, total facility demand, a utility-service arrangement, installed equipment ratings or a planned maximum. Do not silently translate one into another. A requested utility supply does not establish connected IT capacity or actual energization.
Floor area also needs a label: gross building area, data hall space and the area of an entire site are different measurements. Avoid assuming that a square-foot figure always describes the same building envelope.
One historical announcement illustrates the boundary problem
In its TAHOE RENO opening announcement, Switch describes TAHOE RENO 1 as encompassing up to 1.3 million square feet and up to 130 MW of power capacity. The same announcement describes the wider campus as designed for up to 7.2 million square feet and up to 650 MW.
Keep the words “up to,” the building name and the historical context attached. The release does not establish that all of that capacity was installed, occupied or drawing power when you read it. Its power-capacity wording should not be relabeled as verified IT load.
A structural supplier and a switchgear supplier would investigate different dimensions of that announcement. Neither should combine the first building’s area with the full campus’s MW figure and describe the result as a measured design density.
IT load and total facility energy differ
The U.S. Department of Energy’s PUE explanation defines power usage effectiveness as total annual facility energy divided by annual IT equipment energy. Cooling and other facility systems sit outside IT equipment energy.
PUE therefore helps explain why IT and whole-facility boundaries differ. It is not, by itself, a utility-service sizing rule. An annual energy ratio cannot establish instantaneous peak demand, reserved supply or the redundancy required for a particular design.
Similarly, the summed nameplate ratings of redundant equipment should not automatically be treated as usable critical capacity. Confirm the configuration and relevant design basis with the project team before using an MW figure to size equipment.
Read the capacity alongside the recorded stage
| Recorded stage | What the capacity may represent | What to establish next |
|---|---|---|
| Announced or planned | A stated target or maximum buildout | Named phase, measurement boundary and evidence of progress |
| Approved or permitted | Capacity stated in an application or decision | Exact permission, conditions and scope; an approval need not approve every proposed MW |
| Under construction | A design target or equipment scope for work in progress | Which building or package is active, who buys it and which procurement dates are confirmed |
| Operational or partially operational | Available, installed or reported capacity at a stated scope | What is actually operating and whether expansion work is separate |
| On hold | A historical target with an unresolved schedule | New evidence before using it in a time-bound demand forecast |
This table is editorial guidance, not a mapping that verifies a record. Capacity can remain unchanged in a summary even when the source or stage is old. Read the stage guide and the underlying dated document together.
Announced pipeline capacity is not a delivery schedule
A regional pipeline can mix proposals, approved phases, construction and future expansion. Its total depends on the compiler’s definitions, coverage and treatment of overlapping phases. It should not be treated as installed capacity or as a firm ceiling: plans can expand, contract, overlap or disappear.
Before using a pipeline in a demand model, identify which projects and phases are included, reconcile duplicates and record the timing assumptions. If those details are unavailable, use the total as market context and retain the uncertainty.
Procurement can also start before physical construction. Long-lead packages may be ordered during design or preconstruction. A construction start is therefore neither necessary evidence of an open buying window nor sufficient proof that a package remains available. Compare the equipment lead-time guide with the construction timeline guide.
Five questions before you use an MW figure
- What does the unit measure: IT load, facility demand, service capacity or something else?
- Does it cover one building, one phase or full campus buildout?
- Is it an announced maximum, a design target, installed capacity or measured demand?
- Who published it, when, and has a later source revised it?
- What evidence connects it to your package and purchasing window?
There is no universal “three out of five” threshold that makes a figure suitable for a demand model. A missing measurement boundary or phase can be decisive even when other fields are complete. Keep those unknowns explicit.
Convert scale into a supplier worklist
Use capacity to identify questions about electrical distribution, cooling and related systems, rather than treating it as a bill of materials. Equipment counts and specifications still depend on the engineering design, redundancy, density and project scope.
Phasing matters too. Several phases do not necessarily create the same number of separate procurement cycles: equipment may be purchased centrally, shared infrastructure may come first, and fit-outs may follow later. Establish the actual release and delivery sequence for the package you supply.
Combine the capacity record with developer and contractor roles, then assign a next action using the bidding watchlist method.
Where Radar records fit
Radar organizes U.S. project research by location and recorded development stage. Its coverage statistics separate tracked records, including discovery leads, from public previews. These are coverage counts, not a national inventory of verified facilities or open bids.
Membership includes available developer, contractor, specification and source information; completeness varies by record. The methodology explains why a linked source supports specific claims rather than certifying every field. Use the free digest to follow reviewed previews, then check the relevant source and package before acting.
Frequently asked questions
Does a 130 MW record mean 130 MW of IT load?
Only if the source defines it that way. Preserve the publisher’s wording when the boundary is unclear, and distinguish a target from installed capacity or measured use.
Why do two sources give different capacity for the same address?
They may describe different buildings, phases, revisions or power boundaries. Compare scope and dates before treating the figures as contradictory.
Can announced capacity guide procurement planning?
It can help prioritize research. Production commitments need package-specific evidence of design, authority, procurement and timing. The project’s headline stage alone is not enough.
Can floor area replace an MW figure?
No. Area does not establish electrical density. Confirm whether it is gross building, data hall or site area, and keep it separate from power measurements.
Sources and research limits
The Switch announcement supports its historical, provider-stated design figures. DOE supports the annual-energy PUE definition. Both were checked October 31, 2026. The tables and supplier workflow are editorial guidance; they do not verify current capacity, engineering design or procurement at a particular project.