Trump executive order aimed at speeding up data center construction

A new executive order by President Donald Trump aims to accelerate federal permitting and provide financial incentives for large-scale data center construction, along with related energy and manufacturing projects.

The directive expands access to federal lands and lifts key environmental review hurdles. It also offers grants, tax credits, and loan guarantees for qualifying projects.

Projects must cost at least $500 million or use more than 100 megawatts of electricity to qualify for the incentives. The order directs agencies to expand categorical exclusions under the National Environmental Policy Act and develop permitting efficiencies under laws such as the Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act.

Trump’s order also instructs the EPA to identify brownfield and Superfund sites for reuse and directs federal agencies to authorize development on federal lands that could support qualifying projects.

Roughly one in seven Associated Builders and Contractors’ members currently hold an active data center contract. Contractors continue to see high demand around data center construction with a glut of projects in early-stage planning.