What happened

Electricity has become the first question in American site selection. CRE Daily reported today, citing a Bisnow survey of 72 members of the 2026 Site Selectors Guild, that 79% now rank power access as a top influence on where capital intensive projects like data centers and advanced manufacturing get built. Labor and geopolitics were each cited by 50%. A year earlier, tariff policy led at 87%, and in 2024 workforce availability led at 76%. More than half of the consultants said inadequate power alone can knock a location out.

The grid is telling the same story from the other side. Realtor.com reported that the Energy Department issued an emergency order this week at PJM Interconnection’s request, covering a grid that serves more than 67 million people across 13 states and DC. PJM told the department that as much as 61,591 MW of generation could be unavailable on October 14 and that it was forecast to come within 900 MW of its reserve margin, in October, a month normally used for maintenance. Virginia alone held an estimated 13,300 MW of large data center capacity as of mid 2026, roughly a fifth of the projected national total, according to a Realtor.com analysis of Aterio data.

Demand is not slowing. CRE Daily cited Goldman Sachs Research projecting US electricity demand from these projects rising from 31 GW in 2025 to 66 GW in 2027.

Where we see opportunity

Land with power is now a different asset than land without it. A parcel with a documented utility commitment, available substation capacity or a clear interconnection path should trade at a premium, and in many markets land pricing has not caught up. That is where we would spend diligence dollars first.

Communities that organize early win. CRE Daily pointed to Greater New Orleans Inc. documenting capacity ahead of time with state backed certification funding. It also described Cherokee County, South Carolina, where a $1 billion facility with about 500 jobs needed 70 MW within two years and the site had only 1 MW until Duke Energy committed. The lesson for economic developers and landowners is the same: prove the power before you pitch the dirt.

Housing follows the power. Every plant and data center that clears this gate brings construction crews and permanent workers to places that often have little housing to offer them. That is where employer anchored workforce housing belongs in the conversation, ideally while the power is being secured, not three years after the ribbon cutting.

Where we see the downfalls

Entitled is not the same as buildable. A site with zoning and no power is a land bank, not a project. Owners who paid for entitlements assuming the utility would follow may find the utility’s timeline is now the real schedule.

Opposition is real and expensive. CRE Daily reported that 22% of consultants cite community resistance as grounds to drop a site, and Data Center Watch counted at least 45 projects worth about $68 billion blocked or delayed from April to June, after 75 projects worth $130 billion in the first quarter. Grid emergencies like this week’s hand opponents a ready argument.

Households carry the stress. Realtor.com noted that 37% of PJM’s installed generating capacity at the end of 2025 came from units more than 40 years old, according to the grid’s independent market monitor. Projects that push cost or reliability risk onto residential ratepayers will face harder politics, and that risk belongs in the underwriting.

Carry costs bite. CRE Daily’s market snapshot put the 10 year Treasury at 5.19% at the October 14 close. Holding land while waiting on a utility at today’s rates eats returns fast.

What we are watching

Whether local governments actually press utilities for faster interconnection, as CRE Daily expects. How PJM works through the maintenance it could not finish this month before winter demand arrives. And whether land sellers begin pricing power documentation explicitly. The first metros to publish a credible inventory of powered, entitled sites will capture a disproportionate share of the next wave.

We score metros for land opportunity, including where infrastructure is lining up ahead of growth, in our free National Land Opportunity Watchlist at https://www.landbriefing.com. It is a good place to start if you are trying to figure out which dirt is actually buildable.

About the Author

I’m the founder and CEO of Kaufman & Company, a private investment and holding firm working across real estate development, venture investment, and infrastructure. My focus is workforce housing and employer-anchored development, including mountain resort communities through Oldivai.

Reach me at Daniel@kaufmanredev.com or find more at danielkaufmanre.com.

Sources

Power Access Overtakes Land and Labor in US Site Selection, CRE Daily, October 15, 2026, https://www.credaily.com/newsletters/national/issue/power-access-overtakes-land-and-labor-in-us-site-selection/

67 Million Americans Are Under a Power Grid Emergency: What This Means for Homeowners, Realtor.com, October 14, 2026, https://www.realtor.com/news/trends/power-grid-emergency-67-million-americans-homeowners/