Malaysia now charges data centres for every megawatt they reserve, used or not, as 60 queued projects seek nearly double the capacity the operating fleet is supplied. Norwegian MPs want a halt on new grid allocations, a developer with contracts signed under the old rules challenged Brazil's first grid-access auction in court, and Oregon's governor asked regulators to pause data-centre permits until July 2027.
Governments now charge, auction or pause the grid capacity data centres reserve but do not yet use.
Johari Abdul Ghani told Malaysia's parliament on 15 October that a data centre booking 200 MW of grid and drawing 100 MW now pays for all 200.
Malaysia's trade minister, Johari Abdul Ghani, told parliament on 15 October that data centres now pay for all the grid capacity they book. A site reserving 200 MW but using 100 MW pays for 200.
That turns land-banking into a monthly bill. Some 60 projects still waiting want 11,172 MW, nearly double what the 57 running sites take today.
Brazil's grid operator gave all 228 MW on offer at four São Paulo connection points to three data-centre projects, against 451 MW of qualified demand.
Brazil's grid operator held its first contest for connection capacity on 6 and 7 October. Seven qualified projects asked for 451 MW at four São Paulo points, and three data centres won all 228 MW.
Demand ran at roughly twice the supply. Pahlavan took two of the three winning slots and Digital DC Brasil the third, so the São Paulo grid is now rationed by contest.
Four MPs filed a proposal in the Storting on 5 October to stop new grid allocations to data centres, citing about 12 GW already reserved or queued with Statnett.
Four Norwegian MPs filed a proposal on 5 October to halt new grid allocations to data centres until Norway has a national policy. Any project of 25 MW or more would need a Storting vote.
Statnett holds about 12 GW of bookings for roughly 120 projects, the filing says. The sector had 677 jobs in 2024, so the debate weighs hydropower against very few jobs.
A federal judge gave Brazil's power regulator 48 hours to rule on Pahlavan's bid to keep the grid capacity its old contracts covered, and froze awards at the Replan substation meanwhile.
Pahlavan asked a federal appeals court on 6 October to protect grid capacity its three Paulínia contracts promised. The judge gave Brazil's power regulator 48 hours to rule.
Each project was due to step up from 71 MW to 157 MW in 2029. No ruling had been published by 17 October, and new awards at the Replan substation wait on it.
Oregon's governor asked the state environment department on 9 October to stop issuing air and water permits for new data centres until July 2027, including city sewage-plant permits that would take their discharge.
Oregon Governor Tina Kotek wrote to the state's Department of Environmental Quality on 9 October. She asked it to pause air and water permits for new data centres until 1 July 2027.
The request also reaches city sewage plants that want to take data-centre wastewater. On-site gas turbines need air permits, so developers planning their own power are caught too.
Jitin Prasada promised a dedicated data-centre policy on 14 October so households do not pay more, as India's power planner reviews what large data centres do to the grid.
India's junior electronics minister, Jitin Prasada, said on 14 October that a data-centre policy is coming so households do not pay more. He gave no date and no detail.
The Central Electricity Authority expects data-centre demand near 17 GW by 2031-32. Installed capacity stood at 1,575 MW in August, so the planner expects roughly elevenfold growth.
The UK government created GB Grid on 29 September, a state-owned rival to the network operators that will let businesses build their own grid connections and co-invest in them.
Britain will create GB Grid, a state-owned network company inside Great British Energy, the government said on 29 September. Businesses may build their own grid links, with GB Grid able to co-invest.
Data centres hold between 73 GW and 80 GW of the demand queue, by Ofgem figures. CX Tech alone has asked for 1,000 MW near Chapelcross in Dumfries and Galloway.
Hydro-Québec's proposed data-centre tariff, heard by Quebec's energy regulator from 1 to 9 October, would charge sites that use too little of their contracted demand as well as those that ramp up too fast.
Quebec's energy regulator heard Hydro-Québec's proposed data-centre tariff from 1 to 9 October, with more sessions set for December. It would cover sites committing to at least 5 MW.
The draft charges C$32.70 a kilowatt each month plus 8.71 cents a kilowatt-hour. Sites whose peak stays under 60% of their forecast for a year would pay a C$92.28 premium on each kilowatt of the gap.
Óscar López said on 8 October that he hopes to approve Spain's data-centre royal decree shortly, before the 29 November general election, with urgent processing planned to get it through cabinet.
Spain's digital transformation minister, Óscar López, said on 8 October he hopes to approve the data-centre royal decree before the 29 November general election. The government plans urgent processing to reach cabinet.
More than 600 submissions came in during consultation. The Consejo de Estado, the state advisory council, has yet to give its opinion. A decree left unfinished would pass to whichever government follows.
MC Digital Realty, Digital Realty's venture with Mitsubishi, began building the 24 MW KIX15 data centre in Osaka on 7 October, with opening set for late 2028.
MalaysiaMC Digital Realty, a venture of Digital Realty and Mitsubishi Corporation, began building a 24 MW data centre in Osaka Prefecture on 7 October. The new building is due to open in late 2028.
It joins the venture's existing Osaka campus in western Japan. Digital Realty also won 50 MW in Singapore's August allocation, so it keeps adding Asian capacity in modest blocks.
KT Cloud said on 7 October that it and Hyundai Engineering will build a 50 MW AI data centre at Cheongna in Incheon, due for completion in early 2030.
KT Cloud said on 7 October that it and Hyundai Engineering will build a 50 MW artificial intelligence data centre at Cheongna in Incheon. Work starts in late 2026.
Completion is due in early 2030, more than three years later. The site sits in the Seoul capital region, where South Korea's newer rules push big power users elsewhere.
Nexus Core Systems appointed FiveNines Group on 8 October to lead early design, feasibility and permit work on a 20 MW AI data centre near Casablanca.
Nexus Core Systems hired FiveNines Group, in a deal announced on 8 October, to plan a 20 MW artificial intelligence data centre near Casablanca. FiveNines will lead early design, feasibility and permit work.
The site is the first of a planned 180 MW programme in Morocco. Only this first phase has a named adviser, so the other 160 MW is still on paper.
The Brandenburg town of Trebbin said on 7 October that work has begun on two data-centre buildings and a substation while the state still reviews the operating permit.
The Brandenburg town of Trebbin said on 7 October that work has started on two data-centre buildings and a substation. The work runs under building permits granted earlier, Trebbin said.
Brandenburg's environment agency is still reviewing the operating permit under Germany's Federal Immission Control Act. Construction has run ahead of that review, so any conditions it sets will land on half-built sites.
Up. Three dated decision points could turn proposals into binding rules: ANEEL's ruling on Pahlavan, which decides whether the award at Replan from Brazil's first 228 MW auction stands; the Spanish cabinet's deadline of the 29 November 2026 election; and the Régie de l'énergie du Québec's December sessions on Tarif CD. Oregon's Data Center Advisory Committee comment period closes on 24 October, before any Oregon Department of Environmental Quality decision on a pause meant to run until 1 July 2027.
