In June 2026, Little Rock, Imperial County, and Lee County advanced data center zoning and pauses—signaling entitlement now outranks engineering for power-hungry projects.
Energy markets may have calmed, but the deeper risk has not. As oil panic fades, building owners and community leaders face a tougher reality: electricity costs, grid strain, and resilience planning are becoming core property strategy.
If you manage buildings for a living, you have probably had the same moment in the last year: you open a utility bill, spot a higher total, then start hunting for the explanation. The culprit is rarely one dramatic line item. It is a stack of small ones that quietly turn electricity into a bigger operating expense month after month.
We recently caught up on a call with distributed energy legend Scott Sklar to discuss the ChargedUp!™ pavilion and why the traditional utility grid model is being disrupted by onsite, ‘behind the meter’ solutions. We spoke about efficiency as the best investment.