The short answer
Each utility below has published how much power it needs and what it is building. In every case the need comes first. The plants come later. A data center that moves into these territories joins a line for generation that is not built yet.
That matters less for a buyer leasing a cage in a building that is already energized. It matters a lot for anyone counting on a new building, or a new phase, to open on time.
What the governors-elect said
Gina Hinojosa won in Texas on a moratorium on new data centers until the legislature acts. Keisha Lance Bottoms won in Georgia on a statewide pause on new construction. Amy Acton won in Ohio on a conditional moratorium. In Kansas, Cindy Holscher proposed a pause and led narrowly when we checked on November 4, but the race had not been called. Their own words, with sources, are on Data Center Scouts' governors guide.
None of these is law yet. A governor needs a legislature, an executive order or a utility commission to pause anything. But developers plan years ahead, and the question of where else to go is already being asked.
Eight utilities, in their own filings
These are needs and plans, not available capacity. Figures with different definitions are never added together. Each row links to the filing it came from.
| Utility | What its own plan says | What it is building or buying | Rules for a large new customer |
|---|---|---|---|
| OG&E Oklahoma, Arkansas | Needs 1,922 MW by winter 2031/32. About 800 MW of that comes from new grid reliability rules. [10-Q] Its 2025 plan shows the summer reserve margin falling from 3% in 2026 to minus 16% in 2030. [IRP] | About 1,000 MW contracted from its 2024 request for proposals. Horseshoe Lake 15, about 755 MW and about $1.7 billion, filed for approval October 27, 2026. A 300 MW battery approved. | Proposed tariff for 75 MW and up, with long contracts, minimum bills and upfront cost funding. Hearing January 12, 2027. |
| PSO (AEP) Oklahoma | Short of its summer requirement by 10 MW in 2027, 470 MW in 2028 and 1,766 MW in 2029, before new resources. [OCC testimony] | A 4,000 MW all-source request for proposals for 2029. Two gas turbines totaling 450 MW for 2028. [AEP 10-Q] | State law sets a 75 MW large-load class. PSO's terms are pending in its rate case, with an order expected in the fourth quarter. |
| GRDA Oklahoma | In 2025 it had 2,136 MW of rated resources against a 2,123 MW requirement. [Disclosure] | One new gas unit at Chouteau, about 420 MW. Coal Unit 2 kept running. [Annual report] | Above an agreed firm amount, the customer brings its own supply and pays for transmission studies. [Rider] |
| Alabama Power Alabama | Short of its winter target by 1,179 MW in 2029 and 1,403 MW in 2030. [IRP] | Bought the 880 MW Lindsay Hill gas plant. Kept Barry Unit 5 running on gas. Seeking more dispatchable power for 2032. [10-Q] | Negotiated contracts with minimum bills and collateral. Since October 2026 the state commission votes on each 150 MW-plus contract within 90 days. [PSC] |
| Entergy Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi | Plans about 24 GW of new resources. Names a 7 to 12 GW data center pipeline that is not in its base forecast. [Investor Day] | For Meta in Louisiana: 2,262 MW approved, plus 5,278 MW of gas plants at about $12.9 billion for a second campus, decision expected December 2026. Three 754 MW plants for AWS in Mississippi. [10-Q] | Louisiana tariff for 70 MW and up at 80% load factor, with a minimum bill. [Tariff] Larger deals carry upfront payments and termination charges. |
| TVA Tennessee and six neighboring states | Needs 11 to 32 GW of new capacity by 2040, short in every scenario it modeled. [IRP] | Cumberland gas plant, 1,450 MW, in pre-commercial operation. More turbines at Allen and Lagoon Creek. [10-Q] | New data center load above 5 MW pays $1.521 million per MW upfront, from a first pool of 2,000 MW. Over 100 MW needs Board approval. [Board] |
| Evergy Kansas, Missouri | Its Missouri plans show a summer shortfall from 2027. [IRP] About 2,600 MW of signed data center agreements. [10-Q] | Six gas units of about 440 to 710 MW each, approved or filed, expected from spring 2029 to 2032. Plus solar and batteries. | Approved in both states: 75 MW and up, 12-year term, minimum bill at 80% of expected demand, two years of collateral. [KCC] |
| Duke Energy North and South Carolina | Says it has an "immediate capacity need." Its winter reserve margin sits near 15% to 16% through 2029, against a 22% target it reaches in 2032. [Resource plan] | Person County gas plant, 2,720 MW. Marshall turbines, about 850 MW. Anderson County plant, 1,365 MW. [10-Q] | A North Carolina settlement would cover 50 MW and up, with upfront payments and security for grid upgrades. Order expected mid-November. [Duke] |
A pipeline or a signed contract is demand for power, not a supply of it. A tariff threshold is who the rules apply to, not a promise of service. Territories come from the EIA's 2025 county lists.
Three things the filings agree on
The new customer pays first. Every utility here has moved, or is moving, large loads onto terms that charge before the power flows. That means minimum bills, upfront payments and collateral. TVA's charge alone is $1.521 million per MW.
The power arrives in 2028 to 2032. The gas plants that close these gaps have in-service dates years out. A pause in Texas or Georgia does not move them sooner.
Approval is its own timeline. Entergy's first Meta approval took about ten months from filing. Oklahoma's large-load hearing is in January. North Carolina's order is due this month.
What this means if you are buying colocation
A building that is already energized has its power contract. Space there is the most certain thing in any of these markets. The risk sits with buildings and phases that are not open yet.
- Ask whether the next phase has a signed utility agreement, and its energization date.
- Ask whether that date depends on a plant that is still waiting for approval.
- Expect that a provider paying a minimum bill or a capacity charge will price it into its rates.
Market guides for these territories: Oklahoma, Alabama, Kansas City, Nashville, Memphis, Charlotte, North Carolina and South Carolina. Signed data center contracts by quarter are on our utility pipeline tracker.
How we checked
Every figure comes from the utility's SEC filing, its own investor or company site, its filed resource plan, or its state regulator. News coverage helped us find figures but is never the source. We re-read Evergy's 2,600 MW and Entergy's 5,278 MW and $12.9 billion against the third-quarter 10-Q text. Service territories come from EIA Form 861, 2025 data. A county on that list means the utility has customers there, not that it serves every address in it.