Shepherd Strategies

We are happy to announce we will be attending the EV Charging Summit & Expo this year on March 17-19th in Las Vegas, NV! Our President, Jessica Beeson Tocco will be speaking on a panel at the event. If you are planning on attending, please message us so we can connect!

Shepherd Strategies is happy to announce we are sponsoring the Welcome Reception at EV Charging Summit & Expo ! The event details are included below. If you are planning to attend, we would love to connect.

Data centers are increasingly shaping state and federal policy. In 2025, lawmakers across all 50 states considered 238 bills related to energy, taxation, water use, zoning, and connectivity—enacting over 40 in 21 states.

• Energy: 126 bills focused on power consumption, grid impacts, and innovative solutions, including nuclear options in Maryland and South Carolina.

• Water & Taxation: States like Minnesota, Kentucky, and Pennsylvania introduced measures affecting water usage and tax incentives for data centers.

Rising-star states for investment include Indiana, Kentucky, Mississippi, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia, offering favorable tax incentives, regulatory support, and infrastructure development.

The data centers in the U.S. will create growth nationwide in secondary industries - including construction.

The U.S. data center construction market is projected to grow from $48.2 billion in 2024 to $112.3 billion by 2030, representing a CAGR of 15.2%. Growth is led by major operators like Equinix, Digital Realty, CyrusOne, and hyperscale leaders such as AWS, Microsoft, Meta, and Google.

New entrants—including Corscale, Crane Data Centers, and Edged Energy—are intensifying competition. Core-and-shell facilities tailored to tenant needs are emerging as a preferred development model, reducing upfront costs and increasing flexibility.

Follow the U.S. Department of Energy's Speed to Power Initiative to identify data center development and infrastructure opportunities near you:

U.S. Department of Energy Accelerating Speed to Power The U.S. Department of Energy Accelerating Speed to Power is a free, interactive map designed to support data center siting decisions. It brings together key infrastructure and system-level data, enabling users to explore site constraints, co-location opportunities, and energy system trade-offs.