Issue #2 — Where the $64B in stalled projects actually is
$64B-$156B of data center projects are blocked or delayed across 40 states. Where it concentrates, why it is not random, and why a blocked project is not a dead project.
The "stalled" pool nobody puts on a quarterly slide:
$64 billion in data center projects, blocked or delayed across 40 states.
That number is from Data Center Watch’s tracker. Other estimates put the construction-halted pool at $156B across 48 named projects. Either way, the universe of land that someone wanted to deliver and now cannot is larger than the universe of land most brokerages can find sites on this quarter.
It is not random.
Where it concentrates
- Virginia (Loudoun, Prince William, Fauquier) — community opposition plus grid capacity. Project cancellations quadrupled to 25 in 2025; Q1 2026 logged 20+ before the quarter closed.
- Texas (ERCOT, North Texas) — interconnection requests at CenterPoint grew 700% in a year. Queue length up, study windows blown out. Hyperscalers are reshuffling.
- Arizona, Georgia, Ohio — water and substation siting fights. Fourteen states now have moratoria or pauses on the books.
The opposition is organized. 188 local groups across 40 states (Heatmap News, Feb 2026). They do not stop the buildout. They stop that project at that site, and the money rotates.
Why this is the wrong news to ignore
A blocked project is not a dead project. The land still has the substation interconnect commitment. The deal team is sunk-cost into the diligence. The capital wants a path. When the original developer walks, the asset becomes available to someone with a better community story, a different cooling design, a faster timeline, or a tribal-land alternative.
That window is short and quiet.
What we are tracking through it
- Specific blocked projects and the reason for the block — water vs. power vs. permits vs. community
- Quiet re-trades — when an "abandoned" parcel turns up under a new LLC, and who that LLC’s principals are
- States and counties with the fastest approval lanes — fewer headlines, harder to find sites, much easier to close
- Tribal lands and Indigenous Development Corporations that can deliver speed in places that otherwise cannot
If you are sitting on capital that wants infrastructure exposure, the stalled pool is where the brokerage actually works. Tell us what your filter is — we will tell you which of the blocked projects fit.
Konative Dispatch. Twice a week. Signal only.
— The team
P.S. — If you own land near a substation and the project that was supposed to break ground next to you just went quiet, tell us about it. That is exactly the deal flow we surface.
