Before the Midterms, a Debate Over Where Data Centers Belong and Who Pays for Their Power
Key Highlights
- ➤PJM monitor attributed $6.3B, or 38.2%, of latest capacity charges to data-center load
- ➤Equinix (EQIX) raised 2026 guidance after reporting third-quarter results
- ➤Host Digital (HOST) Site I targets Q1 2027 delivery with 55 megawatts available
- ➤Host Digital (HOST) secured a 15-year lease totaling about $1.25B in contracted base rent
- ➤Galaxy Digital (GLXY) fully financed Helios I Phase II after a $3.5B notes offering
Expert Statements
Adaire Fox-Martin, CEO and President of Equinix
“Our Q3 results and raised full-year guidance reflect the differentiated position and growing importance of Equinix.”
Shawn Matthews, Chairman of Host Digital
“There’s real estate already in place, there’s power in place. So we’re not changing the environment in any way. We’re just using what’s there and taking advantage of it.”
Lee McIntire, Chief Executive Officer of Fermi
“We have the land, the permits, the water, the power equipment, and the fiber network that give us distinct performance advantages”
Shawn Matthews, Chairman of Host Digital
“And at this point in time, credit is becoming discerning. That’s not a crazy statement. It’s reality”
Srini Ramaswamy, Senior financial economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas
“foot on the gas pedal”
John Belizaire, CEO of Soluna
“Their team understood our business and backed us at an important stage of our growth”
Mike Novogratz, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Galaxy
“Our strategy is centered on two significant opportunities in the global economy: the modernization of financial markets through digital assets and the expansion of AI infrastructure.”
NEW YORK, Oct. 29, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- USA News Group News Commentary - With the November 3 midterm elections days away, data centers have become a political issue, and the argument is increasingly about specifics: where the buildings go, how much power they draw and who pays for the grid that serves them. Shawn Matthews, Chairman of Host Digital Inc., who has argued that politicians treat all data centers the same, told Bloomberg Tech on October 28 that projects sized to the power and real estate already in place can work with the communities around them. Lenders, he added, are looking harder at counterparties and cash flows before they commit. Companies mentioned in today’s commentary include: Host Digital Inc. (NYSE American: HOST), Equinix, Inc. (Nasdaq: EQIX), Fermi Inc. (Nasdaq: FRMI) (LSE: FRMI), Soluna Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: SLNH), Galaxy Digital Inc. (Nasdaq: GLXY).
Power costs are at the center of the argument. In a July 27 presentation posted by PJM Interconnection, the grid operator’s independent market monitor said that of the $16.4 billion in capacity market charges in its latest auction, $6.3 billion was a result of data center load, or 38.2 percent. Across the last four capacity auctions, the monitor said, capacity market charges resulting from data center load equal $29.4 billion, or 46.2 percent of the total.
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