Federal Land for AI Data Centers

Why the Federal Government Is Offering Land

The program rests on Executive Order 14318, “Accelerating Federal Permitting of Data Center Infrastructure,” signed July 23, 2025. It defines a “Data Center Project” as a facility needing more than 100 MW of new load dedicated to AI, and a “Qualifying Project” by tests that include at least $500 million in committed capital expenditure, more than 100 MW of incremental load, or a national security purpose. Section 9 tells the Departments of the Interior and Energy to offer authorizations on sites they identify, and the Secretary of Defense to identify sites on military installations and competitively lease available land under 10 U.S.C. 2667.

DOE moved first. An April 2025 request for information identified 16 potential DOE sites, and on July 24, 2025 the department selected four to move forward: Idaho National Laboratory, the Oak Ridge Reservation, the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant and the Savannah River Site. Each then ran its own solicitation.

The logic is the same one that makes retired coal plant sites attractive. Former enrichment plants and weapons-complex land often come with large secured acreage, existing transmission, water infrastructure and a community used to heavy industry. DOE says the Paducah site’s existing transmission capacity, water infrastructure, fiber and available land can support large-scale AI infrastructure.

DOE Sites: Where Each One Stands

Status as reported in DOE and NNSA announcements unless noted. These are public projects, not benchmarks for what any other site is worth.

NNSA said Savannah River proposals would be evaluated on technological readiness, financial viability and detailed plans to complete regulatory and permitting requirements, and that partners must secure their own utility interconnection agreements. It also stressed that selection for negotiations is not a final lease award; any agreement still needs permits, safety and security evaluations and other federal approvals.

Army Bases and BLM Land

Army enhanced-use leases

On March 26, 2026 the Army announced it had conditionally selected Carlyle for about 1,384 acres at Fort Bliss, Texas, and CyrusOne for about 1,201 acres at Dugway Proving Ground, Utah, to enter exclusive negotiations for commercial hyperscale data centers. The projects use the Army’s Enhanced Use Lease program under 10 U.S.C. 2667, which lets military departments lease non-excess property. The developers finance, build, operate, maintain and decommission the data centers. The Army projects initial operating capability in fiscal 2027 at Fort Bliss and fiscal 2029 at Dugway, with the Army Corps of Engineers running lease negotiations and environmental review. As with DOE, the selection isn’t a final deal.

Bureau of Land Management

BLM says that in June 2026 it approved the Townsite Data Center on 88.5 acres of public land near the existing Townsite Solar 1 project outside Boulder City, Nevada, citing EO 14318. The approval amended an existing solar right-of-way and relied on the solar project’s earlier environmental review. After Boulder City and environmental groups appealed, an Interior Board of Land Appeals judge stayed construction, writing that the two projects were fundamentally dissimilar in ways that require meaningful NEPA analysis. BLM then asked to set the approval aside for more review, and the board allowed it, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal. The lesson for anyone counting on fast federal approvals: the executive order speeds process, but it doesn’t remove the environmental review the law still requires.

What It Means for Private Landowners

You’re mostly not competing for the same deal

The federal sites are built around multi-gigawatt campuses that bring new generation and need years of permitting. Most private data center land deals involve smaller projects, a utility that can serve the load, and a developer who wants to start sooner. A parcel near a substation with a credible utility path is a different product from a federal site that needs its own power plant. The federal program doesn’t make that parcel less useful; if anything, it shows how much developers will go through to get large blocks of power.

Land near a federal campus may get calls

Gigawatt projects need new transmission lines, substations, gas laterals and construction access, and not all of that fits inside the federal fence line. If you own land between a federal site and the grid or a pipeline, expect survey requests and easement offers. Read our guides to transmission line easements and eminent domain before you sign anything, since an easement can limit what you can later do with the rest of your parcel.

The federal checklist is a good private checklist

Look at what DOE says made its sites attractive: transmission capacity, water infrastructure, fiber, available land, and a track record of heavy industrial use. Look at what NNSA scored: technological readiness, financial viability and a permitting plan. Those are the same things a buyer will test on private land. Our data center site selection criteria page turns them into a parcel scorecard.

Leasing is normal at this scale

Federal agencies chose ground leases partly because they can’t or won’t sell. Private owners have the choice. A sale gives you a clean exit; a long-term ground lease can keep you in the upside but ties you to the project for decades, including what happens at decommissioning. Our comparison of data center land lease vs. sale covers the trade-offs, and the federal leases are a reminder to insist on clear decommissioning and restoration terms either way.

What It Means for Developers

• Watch each agency’s own channel. DOE and NNSA have announced solicitations site by site, with industry days and short response windows. The Army runs its program through its Enhanced Use Lease program, with the Corps of Engineers handling lease negotiations.
• Lead with power. The DOE selections so far paired the data center with new generation, storage or transmission investment. A proposal that assumes the local utility will simply serve a gigawatt is unlikely to score well.
• Budget for NEPA. Federal land means federal review. The Nevada case shows a shortcut on environmental review can cost more time than it saves.
• Keep private options open. With awards conditional and timelines measured in years, many teams will want private sites in parallel. Federal and private land are complements, not substitutes.

Frequently Asked Questions