How big the increases are
No operator publishes what it charges one customer on renewal. What is published is the average across all of them, in audited results and in broker market reports. Those figures all point the same way.
| Measure | Change | Period | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rent on renewed leases, cash basis | Up 25.4% | Q2 2026 | Digital Realty |
| Average monthly revenue per billed cabinet, globally | Up 6%, to $2,538 | Q2 2026, year over year | Equinix |
| Average asking rent, 250 to 500 kW, primary North American markets | Up 6.6%, to $196.25/kW-mo | H2 2025 | CBRE |
| Asking rent, 3 to 10 MW requirements | Up 12.5% | Year over year | CBRE |
| Asking rent, Chicago | Up 14.7% | Q1 2026, year over year | CBRE |
Each figure links to the report it came from, and the same figures are collected with more context on the pricing benchmarks page. The Digital Realty figure is an average across every lease it renewed in the quarter. Your own increase can sit well above or below it.
The market figures above measure one year of change. A renewal measures every year since you signed. A contract written five years ago at a lower rate, with a small annual escalator, can be a long way below today's market. A renewal resets it in one step. That is why a 25% renewal increase and a 6% market increase can both be true at once.
Why it is happening
The short answer is that there is very little empty space left, and new supply is not arriving fast enough to change that.
- Vacancy is at a record low. CBRE put vacancy across primary North American markets at 1.4% at the end of 2025. An operator with almost no empty cabinets has little reason to discount the ones you already occupy.
- Construction is slowing, not speeding up. Capacity under construction in primary markets fell to 5,994.4 MW from 6,350.1 MW, the first drop since 2020, according to CBRE.
- Large blocks are the scarcest product. Requirements of 3 to 10 MW repriced roughly twice as fast as the 250 to 500 kW band. Scale no longer buys the discount it used to.
None of this is a reason to accept the first number. It is a reason to understand which part of the increase is the market and which part is just the opening position.
The three increases hiding in one notice
A renewal notice usually bundles several different increases into one figure. They are negotiated differently, so separate them first.
| Increase | Where it comes from | How much room there is |
|---|---|---|
| The escalator | A fixed annual percentage written into your current contract | None for the current term. A lot for the next one. |
| The market reset | The new base rate, moved to what the operator now charges new customers | Real, and set by what you could get elsewhere |
| Power and fees | Power cost pass-through, and price changes on cross-connects, remote hands and other line items | Often the most negotiable, because nobody looks at it |
Escalators in the large leases that have been disclosed publicly run around 3% a year, with some at 3% to 5%. Those are listed in implied rent from announced AI leases. Over a ten-year term, the difference between 3% and 5% a year is worth more than most headline rate discounts.
What is still negotiable
- The escalator on the new term. Ask for a cap, or a lower rate in exchange for a longer term. It compounds, so a point off the escalator is worth more than a point off the first year.
- The power you commit to. Most contracts bill committed capacity, not what you draw. If your load has shrunk since you signed, commit to what you use now. How colocation power is billed explains how to check.
- How the redundant feed is billed. Paying full price for the backup feed is common, and the discount on it is often only offered when someone asks.
- Cross-connects and remote hands. These are line items, and on a small deployment they can add up to a large share of the bill.
- Term length and notice periods. A longer term is worth a lower rate to the operator. A shorter notice period is worth something to you.
- A real alternative. The strongest point in any renewal is a written quote from another building in the same market. Posted list prices, collected on the benchmarks page, are a floor, not an alternative.
The dates that decide your leverage
Most renewals are lost on the calendar, not at the table. Two dates matter more than the expiry date.
- The notice deadline. Many contracts renew automatically unless you give notice by a set date before expiry. Miss it and the operator's terms apply for another term.
- The last date you could still move. An alternative only has leverage if you could actually use it. Moving a deployment takes planning, a new contract and a migration window. Start the renewal conversation before that date, not after it.
Pull the contract and look for three things: the notice period, whether it renews automatically, and the escalator on any renewal term. Those three clauses decide most of what happens next.
Send us your renewal notice.
A scout will separate the escalator, the market reset and the fees, compare the new rate with the published benchmarks for your market, and tell you what is worth pushing back on. There is no obligation.