Navigating Data Center Moratoriums & Finding Regulatory Certainty

Data center development has become a game of regulatory chess. While headlines are often dominated by local moratoriums in maturing hubs like Northern Virginia or parts of Georgia, a strategic shift is occurring. Developers are no longer just looking for power and fiber, they are looking for political stability and legislative partnership.

At LandGate, we believe the key to a resilient portfolio isn’t just reacting to restrictive measures, but identifying the "Green Zones": markets where the legislative and community environment actively supports digital infrastructure.

The Landscape of the "Pause"

It is important to view current moratoriums not as a industry-wide "no," but as a local "slow down" for infrastructure reassessment. As of late 2025, we’ve seen local-level pauses in:

• Indiana: Counties like White and Marshall have paused projects to study environmental impacts.

• Missouri: St. Louis and St. Charles have implemented temporary pauses to update zoning ordinances.

• Georgia: Several counties have triggered 180-day moratoriums to align growth with water resource availability.

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For developers, these pauses are a signal to look toward states that have already integrated data centers into their long-term economic strategy.

Where Growth is Encouraged: The Strategic "Green Zones"

While some areas pull the emergency brake, others are laying out the red carpet with tax incentives, streamlined permitting, and "microgrid-friendly" legislation.

1. West Virginia: The New Regulatory Gold Standard

In early 2025, West Virginia's legislature took a landmark step by adopting language that shields "microgrid" districts from certain local zoning and noise codes. This makes West Virginia one of the most developer-friendly jurisdictions in the country for high-density AI workloads that require on-site power generation.

West Virginia Data Center Infrastructure

2. Texas: The Resilience Play

Texas continues to be the primary alternative to the East Coast. Its independent grid (ERCOT) and abundant land in markets like Dallas-Fort Worth and San Antonio offer a scale that traditional hubs can no longer match. Texas remains a "right-to-build" stronghold where large-scale power allocations are still moving through the queue without the "moratorium risk" seen in coastal metros.

Texas Data Center Infrastructure

3. Kansas & The Midwest Corridor

Kansas recently became the 37th state to offer specific data center incentives, requiring a $250 million investment in exchange for significant sales tax exemptions. Along with Iowa and Ohio, the Midwest is positioning itself as the "AI Heartland," offering stable land prices and a political climate that views data centers as vital tax-revenue engines rather than burdens.

Kansas Midwest Corridor Data Center Infrastructure

4. Pennsylvania & The Mid-Atlantic Pivot

As Northern Virginia faces scarcity, Pennsylvania is aggressively vying for AI and High-Performance Computing (HPC) projects. The state is offering expedited approvals and industry-friendly regulations to capture the "spillover" demand from its southern neighbor.

Pennsylvania Mid-Atlantic Data Center Infrastructure

Strategic Comparison: Market Sentiment 2025

Market State	Regulatory Status	Primary Advantage	Developer Strategy
West Virginia	Highly Supportive	State-level zoning overrides	AI-heavy, high-density campuses
Texas	Robust/Open	Grid independence & land scale	Large-scale hyperscale clusters
Kansas	New Incentives	2025 Sales tax exemptions	Greenfield builds / Mid-market
Indiana	Local Volatility	Strong state support, local pushback	Focus on state-aligned "Enterprise Zones"

How to Pivot from Data Center Moratorium to Delivery

A moratorium in one county is an opportunity in the next. To stay ahead of the regulatory curve, developers should focus on three strategic pillars:

• Target "Home Rule" Safe States: Prioritize states like West Virginia that have consolidated regulatory power at the state level, reducing the risk of a surprise local ordinance halting a project mid-development.

• Leverage LandGate Intelligence: Use data to identify sites near existing transmission lines where "by-right" zoning is already in place. The best way to avoid a moratorium is to build where the land is already designated for your use.

• The "Microgrid" Approach: Areas that are wary of the public grid are often much more welcoming to projects that bring their own power (SMRs, Hydrogen, or Natural Gas generation).

The rise of data center moratoriums isn’t a sign of industry decline; it is a sign of industry maturity. As the physical footprint of the digital world expands, the strategy for deployment must evolve from simply chasing connectivity to securing long-term regional partnerships.

For the forward-thinking developer, the current regulatory landscape offers a distinct competitive advantage. While others are sidelined by local pauses in oversaturated markets, strategic players are securing land in "Green Zone" states where the legislative infrastructure is as robust as the fiber. By prioritizing areas with state-level support, favorable zoning, and energy independence, you can ensure your projects move from groundbreaking to operational without the friction of regulatory uncertainty.

At LandGate, we are committed to providing the data-driven insights you need to find these pockets of opportunity. The next era of data center growth isn't just about where the power is, it’s about where the path to development remains wide open. To learn more, book a demo with our dedicated infrastructure team.