Blocked data center capacity and construction jobs

• 3 stalled projects (Shadowbox Studios data center, Tooele Valley Project Area data center, Joliet Technology Center) hold 2,951 of the 3,325 stated MW. The 6 cancelled projects that state a figure add up to 374 MW.
• Joliet Technology Center alone is 1,800 MW, held up in court since May 2026. At peak it would need an estimated 3,462 to 9,600 workers, 2.6% to 7.3% of the 132,250 construction workers in the Chicago metro. No Chicago project under construction states a capacity, so this blocked site is the largest stated demand in the market.
• Illinois accounts for 1,886 of the 3,325 stated MW across three blocked projects. Georgia is next with Shadowbox Studios' 651 MW request to Georgia Power, frozen by a county moratorium.
• Council and board denials stopped the most projects (10 of 31) but little stated capacity: 314 MW. Court cases and utility boards stopped fewer projects and far more MW.
• 13 of the 31 state a square footage, 36,485,800 sq ft combined. 7 state an investment, $56.8 billion combined. 10 state no size figure of any kind.

A court ruling or a lifted moratorium can put 2,951 MW back on the schedule at once. A court ruling in Joliet, a lifted moratorium at Shadowbox Studios or a water permit in Tooele Valley would put each of those sites back on the schedule. Contractors and commissioning firms that follow those dockets will see the restart first. The labor would come from the same metro pools shown on our construction labor gap page.

The cancelled projects that state a figure are small, 374 MW across 6 sites. The large cancellations, such as Prince William Digital Gateway and the Tract land in Buckeye, stated square footage or dollars and no MW, so their labor is not counted here.

How much data center capacity has local pushback blocked?

In our October 2026 trackers, 9 of the 31 blocked projects state a capacity, and those 9 add up to 3,325 MW. 3 stalled projects hold 2,951 MW of it, and 6 cancelled projects hold 374 MW. The other 22 state no MW, so the real figure is higher.

How many construction jobs did blocked data center projects remove?

At the 1.9 to 5.3 workers per MW that named builds report, the 3,325 MW of stated capacity on blocked projects would have needed about 6,395 to 17,734 construction workers at peak. These are estimates of peak headcount. Full-time job figures are on the job promises page. The projects that publish a job figure of their own are on our job promises page.