El Paso County, Colorado
DataCentersExposed tracks 5 AI data centers in El Paso County, Colorado — 2 operating and 1 in the pipeline, drawing 53 MW of reported power demand. Its transparent data-center risk score is 0/100.
Sources: Methodology, Coverage scorecard
Reporting by Eric Keller · Updated May 29, 2026
- Project exposure · 12
- Power demand · 0
- Water draw · n/a
- Land footprint · n/a
What's happening in El Paso County
Facilities here with disclosed capacity draw 53 MW from the local grid. Data-center load on this scale is the single biggest driver of recent capacity-market price increases — costs that flow through to every ratepayer in the service territory, not just the operators.
Below: every tracked facility in the county, the active state legislation that names it or its county, and local news. Commissioner vote records arrive in a later release; the placeholders show where that accountability data will land.
2035 Buildout Outlook
Under the model's moderate-growth scenario (5%/yr annual load growth), PNNL's IM3 model sites about 3 standardized 36 MW campuses in El Paso County by 2035 — roughly 108 MW of new electricity demand and ~52 M gal/yr of cooling water. Under the higher-growth scenario (15%/yr) that climbs to 12 campuses (432 MW). For scale, we currently track 5 real data centers in El Paso County (53 MW of reported power).
- Low growth272 MW · ~35 M gal/yr cooling water
- Moderate growth3108 MW · ~52 M gal/yr cooling water
- High growth7252 MW · ~122 M gal/yr cooling water
- Higher growth12432 MW · ~209 M gal/yr cooling water
The model assigns ~50% of these campuses' cooling to evaporative water cooling in El Paso County (the rest to mechanical/air cooling), a split it derives from local water stress and wet-bulb temperature.
These are modeled candidate sites, not announced or permitted facilities. PNNL's IM3 model places identical 36 MW unit-campuses at feasible locations under each scenario — it shows where demand could concentrate, never a specific parcel. Figures use a market-gravity weight of 50. How the model works.
Every tracked facility
| Facility | Operator | Status | MW |
|---|---|---|---|
| Project Taurus Colorado Springs | Raeden | Proposed | 50 |
| Colorado Springs Data Center Colorado Springs | Flexential Corp. | 3 | |
| Sap Cos02 | — | Mapped (unverified) | — |
| T5@Colorado Springs Colorado Springs | — | — | |
| Walmart Colorado Data Center | — | Mapped (unverified) | — |
County commissioners
How the El Paso County board votes on each data-center matter — the rezonings, the abatements, the water permits — is built from public-meeting minutes and roll-call records. Know of a vote we should be tracking? Tell us.