Data centers and new power in Lancaster County, NE

3.3 GW of new power is waiting to connect to the grid in Lancaster County, NE — 17 active requests. Typical wait: 5.4 years. 0 projects are built, 17 withdrawn. Data as of 14 October 2026.

Live here?

How far is it from your house?

Google Lincoln, run by Google, is in Lancaster County and uses about as much electricity as 113,000 homes.

69 public schools are within 5 miles of it, 7 within one mile. Counted from the facility, not from any home. School list: US Department of Education.

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The power picture

What is happening with electricity in Lancaster County

Every new power plant, battery or big customer has to join a waiting list before it can plug into the grid. This is what that list looks like in Lancaster County right now.

3.3 GW
of new power is waiting to connect
17 projects asked. Not yet approved. Roughly what 2.6 million homes use.
0 MW
has actually been built
0 projects switched on so far.
5.4 yrs
typical wait to plug in

Where every request ever filed here ended up

  • Still waiting 49%
  • Withdrawn 49%
  • Paused 3%

Most requests in the US are withdrawn — a developer tests a site and moves on. That is normal, not a warning sign for Lancaster County.

What kind of power is asking to connect

  • Natural gas 55%
  • Solar 32%
  • Wind 13%

By capacity requested. Data as of 14 October 2026.

All the numbers

35 requests ever filed
Pending applications
17
of 35 ever filed
Capacity queued
3.3 GW
requested, not committed
Already built
0 MW
0 projects connected
Built vs decided
0.0%
17 withdrawn
Median wait
5.4 yr
for applications still pending
Connected capacity
811 MW
indicator, see note

Source: interconnection queues published by SPP. Parsed and normalised by Watt Street. Data as of 14 October 2026. A queued project is a request, not a commitment.

Outcome of every request filed here

OutcomeProjectsCapacityShare
Built00 MW0.0%
Still waiting173.3 GW48.6%
Withdrawn174.5 GW48.6%
Paused1—2.9%

Waiting to connect, by type of power

TypeProjectsCapacity requested
Natural gas61.8 GW
Solar91.0 GW
Wind2428 MW

Key dates for projects here

no dated windows published
QueueWhat closesClosesStanding
FERCFERC large-load show cause — stakeholder comments on RTO responses
Comments on the six RTO/ISO responses to the FPA section 206 show-cause orders of 18 June 2026 (PJM EL26-67, SPP EL26-68, NYISO EL26-69, MISO EL26-70…
No date published yetunconfirmed source
FERCFERC RM26-4 — generic large-load rulemaking
Still at ANOPR stage.
No date published yetconfirmed source
FERCGeorgia PSC - Georgia Power must file large-load contracts 30 days before execution
A standing obligation rather than a dated one: large-load contracts must be filed with the commission at least 30 days before they are executed.
No date published yetconfirmed source
SPPSPP 2028 CPP Interconnection Cluster Study (ICS) application window
Definitive Interconnection System Impact Study cluster, post Order 2023 compliance.
No date published yetconfirmed source

A date marked confirmed was checked by a person against the authority's own tariff, order or form page. Anything else is listed so you know it exists, with a link so you can check it yourself. Full calendar.

The biggest projects on file

top 15 by size
ProjectTypeCapacityStatusFiledQueue
GEN-2007-011N02Coal600 MWwithdrawn2007-03SPP
GEN-2024-021Natural gas540 MWactive2024-10SPP
GEN-2019-007Solar500 MWwithdrawn2019-04SPP
GEN-2023-224Natural gas478 MWactive2023-10SPP
GEN-2007-011N01Coal400 MWwithdrawn2007-03SPP
GEN-2018-066Solar400 MWwithdrawn2018-10SPP
GEN-2024-020Natural gas390 MWactive2024-10SPP
GEN-2017-181Wind300 MWactive2017-11SPP
GEN-2021-060Wind300 MWwithdrawn2021-04SPP
GEN-2022-198Solar300 MWwithdrawn2023-02SPP
GEN-2021-043Solar250 MWactive2021-04SPP
GEN-2021-073Solar240 MWwithdrawn2021-05SPP
GEN-2022-210Solar240 MWwithdrawn2023-03SPP
GEN-2017-055Solar228 MWwithdrawn2017-05SPP
GEN-2021-049Solar225 MWactive2021-04SPP

How Lancaster County compares

#99 in the US · #1 in NE

Lancaster County ranks #99 of 1,607 US counties by power waiting to connect, and #1 of 25 in Nebraska.

CountyWaitingCapacity queued
Cass County92.3 GW
Gage County61.5 GW
Burt County41.1 GW
Custer County2500 MW
Lincoln County2456 MW
Douglas County3450 MW
Washington County2300 MW
Sarpy County1273 MW

Common questions about power in Lancaster County

How long does it take to get power for a data center in Lancaster County, NE?

The median wait for a project still in the interconnection queue in Lancaster County is 5.4 years. Across the US, most large loads are quoted three to seven years depending on the market and whether network upgrades are needed. 0 projects in Lancaster County have reached energization and 17 were withdrawn, so the withdrawal rate here is a better guide to risk than any single quoted timeline.

How much capacity is available in Lancaster County, NE?

3.3 GW is currently requested across 17 active interconnection requests, and 0 MW has actually been built. A queued megawatt is a request, not deliverable capacity — most queued projects are never built. For deliverable offtake capacity at a specific substation you need a utility study, not a queue.

Is Lancaster County, NE a good site for a data center?

This page gives you the power half of that answer: what is queued, what has been energized, how long the wait runs, and which large load interconnection requests are already recorded nearby. The other half — the state policy position, moratoriums and large load tariffs — is on our Nebraska policy page.

Where does the data on this page come from?

The interconnection queue published by the transmission providers serving Lancaster County — SPP — parsed and normalised by Watt Street. Every figure carries the date it was true. Data as of 14 October 2026.

Go deeper on Lancaster County

The interactive map plots every one of these applications, and a generated county report puts them in a sourced PDF with the date each figure was true on every page.

Open Lancaster County on the map County reports All of Nebraska