Methodology · Uncloak

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Sources

Every site, date and dollar figure comes from one of these public records. Each record on a site page links to its original filing.

Records and mapped sites

Texas Comptroller, Data Centers in Texas registryVisit source(opens in a new tab)
Sites registered for the state's data-center sales-tax exemption programs, with owner, occupant and operator entities.
Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, TABS project searchVisit source(opens in a new tab)
Construction projects registered for accessibility review, with address, estimated cost, square footage, tenant and status.
Texas Commission on Environmental Quality recordsVisit source

Spare connection capacity

Spare capacity compares each existing plant's grid connection with its hourly output. The connection size is the summed nameplate capacity of the plant's operating fossil generators in the EIA-860M monthly generator inventory. Hourly output is the gross load EPA CAMPD reports for those units, weighted by the share of each hour they ran. CAMPD doesn't cover solar and wind, so those plants aren't listed yet; batteries or renewables already sharing a fossil plant's connection are left out of both the connection size and the output.

For every hour of the latest 365 days, the free room is the connection size minus that hour's output. “Free in 80% of hours” is the largest amount that was free in at least 80% of those hours; “free in 95% of hours” is the same at 95%. Uncloak stores a compact percentile summary for each plant-day in Tiger Data and combines 365 of them, so the figures are close approximations (within about 1%) rather than exact sorts of every hour.

A plant passes a screen when:

Battery: at least 20 MW is free in 80% of hours. The suggested size is that figure rounded down to 10 MW, for a 4-hour battery that waits out the hours when the plant runs.

Steady load, such as a data center: at least 50 MW is free in 95% of hours. The load must curtail or run on on-site storage in the rest. Missing fiber within 2 miles is flagged, not excluded.

Solar plus storage: at least 100 acres of adjacent open land and 20 MW free in 80% of hours. Existing solar farms are excluded, since more panels would compete for the same daylight hours.

These are screens, not feasibility studies. Past output doesn't guarantee future room, the plant owner must agree to share, and total output must stay within the connection. FERC's surplus interconnection service (Order 845) applies to FERC-jurisdictional grid operators. Most of ERCOT is not one, so adding a battery or solar at an existing Texas plant goes through ERCOT's own interconnection process, and pairing a large load with existing generation needs PUCT and ERCOT review under Texas SB 6 (2025). Verify the current rules for each deal.

Every metric, explained

Sites in our recordsDocumentedUnit: sites

How many distinct data-center sites in our records are linked to this organization.

Limits: Counts only sites we could find in these records and link to the organization. Projects filed under code names, or whose ownership we could not resolve, are not included.

Source: Texas Comptroller registry and TDLR construction filings (Texas), state incentive registries (Illinois, Minnesota, Indiana, Wisconsin), and the IM3 data-center atlas operator tag (all states), linked to this organization

CountiesDocumentedUnit: counties

How many different counties the organization's recorded sites are in.

Limits: Sites without a published location can't be placed in a county, so the true number may be higher.

Source: Site coordinates and county fields from the Comptroller registry, TDLR filings, state incentive registries, the IM3 atlas and the reviewed location list

Registered entitiesDocumentedUnit: entities

Legal entities (often LLCs with unrelated-sounding names) that appear on the public records and that we linked to this organization.

Limits: A link means the organization is named as owner, occupant, operator or tenant on the record. It does not describe the full corporate structure.

Source: Texas Comptroller registry (owner, occupant and operator names) and the company named in state incentive registries

Registered construction costDocumentedUnit: US dollars

The builder's estimated construction cost, added up across the site's TDLR registrations.

Limits: An estimate filed before construction, not an audited amount. Many sites have no TDLR registration, so it's shown as unavailable, not zero. Registrations can overlap, for example a renovation of an already registered building.

Source: TDLR TABS: the 'Estimated Cost' on each construction registration

Registered floor areaDocumentedUnit: square feet

Floor area published on the site's TDLR registrations, added up.

Limits: Published for only some registrations, and registrations can overlap.

Source: TDLR TABS: 'Square Footage' on each registration

Estimated power demandUncloak estimateUnit: megawatts (MW)

A rough size estimate. It's the registered construction cost divided by an average all-in cost of building one megawatt of data-center capacity.

Limits: Not a measured or requested load. The real power draw can be much higher or lower. Available only where a construction cost is registered.

Source: Uncloak estimate: registered construction cost ÷ an industry cost-per-MW benchmark

Modeled IT loadUncloak estimate (modeled)Unit: megawatts (MW), a 10th-90th percentile range

A range for how much IT load a building of this size typically has, based on Texas data centers whose floor area and construction cost are both on record.

Limits: A statistical estimate, not a record. The training MW is itself cost-derived, an atlas footprint is ground coverage rather than floor area (so multi-storey buildings come out low), and the range is wide on purpose. It never feeds the evidence index.

Source: Uncloak model: floor area (or the atlas building footprint) × the MW per square foot seen at Texas data centers with both a registered floor area and a construction cost

Evidence indexUncloak estimateUnit: 0–100% (uncalibrated)

How much public-record evidence supports that the project is real and advancing: registrations, certification, tenant named, permits, inspections.

Limits: A checklist score, not a probability that the site will be built or operate at any size.

Source: Uncloak checklist of public-record signals (see Methodology)

State data-center certificationDocumentedUnit: date

When the site entered a state data-center sales-tax exemption program, such as Texas's Qualifying Data Center program. Each state publishes a different date: Illinois gives only the MOU year and Minnesota only the date of its list.

Limits: Registration shows eligibility for the exemption program. It does not show the size of any tax benefit, which is not published here.

Source: Texas Comptroller registry ('Effective Date'), Wisconsin DOR certification date, Indiana IEDC contract date, Illinois DCEO MOU year, Minnesota DEED list date

Large loads requesting grid connection (statewide)ContextUnit: gigawatts (GW)

Total electricity demand from large new customers (data centers, crypto mining, industry) asking ERCOT to connect.

Limits: Statewide and covers all large-load types, not only data centers. Many requests never connect. Report scope changed over time.

Source: ERCOT large-load interconnection reports

Grid connection sizeDocumentedUnit: megawatts (MW)

The most power an existing plant may send onto the grid. A new battery, solar farm or load that shares the connection must stay within it.

Limits: Nameplate capacity stands in for the interconnection limit, which utilities and ERCOT don't publish per plant. The real limit can be lower.

Source: EIA-860M monthly generator inventory (nameplate capacity of the plant's operating fossil generators)

Connection free in 80% of hoursUncloak estimateUnit: megawatts (MW)

How much of the connection sat unused in at least 80% of the year's hours. A battery can use this room and wait out the other hours.

Limits: Past output doesn't guarantee future room. Any shared project must throttle when the plant runs, and the owner must agree to share.

Source: Hourly output: EPA CAMPD gross load for the plant's fossil units over the latest 365 days (solar and wind plants aren't listed yet)

Connection free in 95% of hoursUncloak estimateUnit: megawatts (MW)

The steadier figure: room that was free almost all the time. A load that runs around the clock, such as a data center, would screen on this.

Limits: The remaining 5% of hours still need a plan, such as curtailment or on-site storage.

Source: Hourly output: EPA CAMPD gross load for the plant's fossil units over the latest 365 days (solar and wind plants aren't listed yet)

Hours above half outputUncloak estimateUnit: share of hours

How often the plant ran at more than half its connection size. Low values mean the connection is mostly idle.

Limits: Counts hours, not energy. A plant can be rarely busy yet run flat out on the hottest afternoons.

Source: Hourly output: EPA CAMPD gross load for the plant's fossil units over the latest 365 days (solar and wind plants aren't listed yet)

Sites that pass a screenUncloak estimateUnit: plants

Plants with enough free connection for at least one use: a battery, a steady load, or solar plus storage.

Limits: A screen, not a feasibility study. Land, permits, owner consent and grid rules decide whether a project can actually be built.

Source: Uncloak screening rules applied to the spare-capacity figures and site data

How Uncloak works, and what it can't tell you

Sources

Records and mapped sites

Grid, reference and lookup data

Linking sites to organizations

Documented, estimated, context

Evidence index

Estimated power demand

Modeled IT load (floor area)

Grid operator tag

Missing data

Avoiding double counting

Coverage limits

Spare connection capacity

Illustrations

Every metric, explained