< Previous116 SEPTEMBER 2025 SITE SELECTION Corporate facility investment: $3.86 billion Jobs created: 2,410 Population and territory: Alliant serves a territory in Iowa and Wisconsin with a population of 1 million. Highlights: In 2024, extending already effi cient and robust economic development programs, Alliant Energy created a Data Center Services team to facilitate economic development projects with very large energy demand. “Initially envisioned to support hyperscale data centers, of which two were announced in Alliant Energy service territory in 2024 and several more are expected, the data center services team has since shown value for large manufacturing projects, including those in renewable fuels,” wrote Dennis Jordan in our survey weeks before QTS in August announced a $10 billion campus in Cedar Rapids that marks the largest economic development project in the city’s and state’s history. “The most important factor in siting data centers amid the AI boom is speed to market,” says Coleman Peiff er, senior manager of Data Center Services. “Alliant Energy is committed to responding to the industry’s needs, while continuing to deliver reliable, cost-eff ective and renewable energy to our customers.” Separately, in 2024 leaders from Iowa State University and Alliant Energy joined to cut the ribbon at the Alliant Energy Agricultural Innovation Laboratory on the university campus in Ames. Alliant Energy has identifi ed advanced agriculture technology, renewable fuels and biochemicals as likely industries for expansion across Iowa and Wisconsin in the coming decade. Alliant Energy Madison, Wisconsin Dennis Jordan, Director of Customer, Community & Economic Development alliantenergy.com EAST NORTH CENTRAL Corporate facility investment: $5.6 billion Jobs created: 8,306 Population and territory: AEP’s 200,000-square-mile service area, with a population of 12.4 million, covers nearly 350 counties in 11 states (Arkansas, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Ohio, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia) and is served by seven electric utility operating companies. Highlights: Signifi cant milestones described by Tim Wells include the team’s Step Up / Step Out Site Initiative to expedite the service process by “enabling AEP to demonstrate that it has the necessary approvals in place to construct upgrades required for the requested load.” The program was developed to address the increasing challenges of providing timely service to prospects amidst tighter capital constraints and a surge in new projects. On a related front, “We are actively working with various internal teams to gain a clearer understanding of how projects aff ect rates and earnings,” Wells writes. “This involves analyzing the balance between capital investment and aff ordability for our customers. By modeling project impacts, we aim to identify metrics that indicate which types of projects deliver the most value to both our customers and to AEP stakeholders.” To improve responsiveness to large new customer inquiries, the AEP team developed a web-based intake form that captures all necessary data points in an easily shareable format. Similarly, the team transitioned the application for the Economic Development Rider in Indiana to a web-form format, making it a more accessible and effi cient process for customers. AEP also provided fi nancial and operational support for Michigan’s Strategic Site Readiness Program, which was newly established in 2024. As for its own workforce, last year the AEP Foundation awarded a $36,000 grant aimed at enhancing educational opportunities for students interested in the line worker certifi cate program at Kentucky Technical and Community College System schools. This initiative will provide 18 scholarships over the next three years. American Electric Power Columbus, Ohio Timothy J. Wells - Vice President, Sales, Economic and Business aep.com/economic-development EAST NORTH CENTRAL118 SEPTEMBER 2025 SITE SELECTION Corporate facility investment: $6.5 billion Jobs created: 4,559 Population and territory: The principal subsidiary of CMS Energy Corporation, Consumers Energy off ers electric and/or natural gas service in all 68 counties in Michigan’s Lower Peninsula, a territory with a population of 6.8 million. Highlights:Among major projects in 2024, Corning, Inc., announced a new solar component manufacturing facility in north central Michigan’s Richland Township and Saginaw County that is expected to generate total investment of $1.5 billion and create more than 1,500 direct jobs. Switch Communications Group LLC completed its second data center building on the former Steelcase pyramid campus in West Michigan’s Gaines Township, with plans underway to invest hundreds of millions of dollars more for a third building.The BENTELER Group is investing $105 million to expand its operations at the long-vacant former brownfi eld site known as Site 36 in Grand Rapids, where other investors include Corewell Health (an $80 million distribution center) and Gelock, a crane, rigging, heavy hauling and heavy industrial warehousing company. “Nearby Wyoming and Godwin Heights residents have long sought a connective space, and the new Godwin Mercado on Site 36 fi ts the bill,” writes Valerie Christoff erson. “The Godwin Mercado will be a central downtown Wyoming destination. Funding for the new $6.2 million marketplace comes through grants from the Consumers Energy Foundation, the Michigan Economic Development Corporation and a contribution from Franklin Partners, among other sources.” Other work by the Consumers Energy team includes continuing to support energy analyses and due diligence behind MI Sites, a Michigan Economic Development Corp. program developed in partnership with site consultancy Quest Site Solutions; “proactively deepening the Consumers Energy team’s understanding of the semiconductor sector’s unique needs in energy and beyond”; and implementing a data center intake process to 1) help prospective data centers and their consultants provide the right information to speed and prioritize Consumers Energy’s responses, and 2) “enable our organization suffi cient time to validate our solution to serve this industry’s signifi cant energy needs.” Consumers Energy Jackson, Michigan Valerie Christoff erson, Director of Economic Development www.consumersenergy.com/econdev EAST NORTH CENTRAL Corporate facility investment: $17 billion Jobs created: 1,390 Population and territory: ComEd serves nearly 10 million people in northern Illinois, including the Chicago metro area. Its 11,000-square-mile service territory spans the upper third of Illinois, touching more than 400 municipalities and 70% of the state’s population. Highlights: “We work closely with the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, Intersect Illinois and 30+ regional organizations to attract new jobs and capital investment in Illinois,” explains Ed Sitar, with his team of three holding key leadership positions on 12 state, regional or county economic development boards. Given the increased number and scale of large power requests, ComEd was one of the fi rst utilities to implement a new cluster study process to comprehensively analyze the impact large power requests have on the transmission and distribution systems and to identify necessary reinforcements and expansions to ensure the continued reliability of the system. “This process was shared with other large utilities who are now utilizing a similar approach to manage their large load requests,” Sitar notes, adding that his team continues to engage with the Illinois Data Center Energy Task Force in conjunction with the Data Center Coalition, the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker’s Offi ce, PJM, the Illinois Commerce Commission and multiple internal ComEd departments. “Our signature project win in 2024 was the successful attraction of PsiQuantum, who will build the fi rst U.S. utility-scale quantum computer at the newly created Illinois Quantum and Microelectronics Park (IQMP) at the long-vacant U. S. Steel site in southeast Chicago,” he writes. “Our partnership with the State of Illinois and other regional and local stakeholders provided PsiQuantum the confi dence ComEd could serve the power needs of their large campus.” In addition to continued leadership in clean energy and solar, the ComEd team launched a 3-year, $231 million benefi cial electrifi cation rebate program which has incentivized the purchase and installation of nearly 5,000 public and private EV charging ports and the purchase or lease of nearly 1,000 new and pre-owned electric fl eet vehicles. Meanwhile, in 2024, customer savings resulting from ComEd’s Energy Effi ciency Program passed the $11 billion mark since the programs were launched in 2008. In partnership with a coalition of nearly 50 construction and utility employers. ComEd graduated 69 students in 2024 from its CONSTRUCT Infrastructure Academy and welcomed two new employers. Since inception, the program has served over 1,000 participants with a 70% job placement rate. ComEd - An Exelon Company Oakbrook Terrace, Illinois Ed Sitar, Senior Manager, Economic Development www.comed.com EAST NORTH CENTRAL120 SEPTEMBER 2025 SITE SELECTION Corporate facility investment: $16 billion Jobs created: 4,957 Population and territory: Dominion Energy serves a territory in Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina with a population of 4.5 million. Highlights: Dominion Energy recently launched a digital marketing strategy to reach site seekers. The campaign includes a newly designed website, social media and digital content. “For example,” explains Senior Director of Economic Development Jen Kostyniuk, “the new Dominion Energy Economic Development LinkedIn page directly connects site seekers with the people at Dominion Energy who can help make their project happen.” The team at Dominion Energy also continues to work closely with the Virginia Economic Development Partnership to support the Virginia Business Ready Sites Program, as well as with the South Carolina Department of Commerce and the North Carolina Department of Commerce. Of interest to corporate end-users in its home state in particular, on the operations side Dominion Energy announced in June just before hurricane season that it had fi nished burying more than 2,500 miles of the most outage- prone power lines in Virginia as part of the company’s Strategic Underground Program, launched in 2014. The company plans to bury thousands more miles in the coming years. “The average outage time for customers with buried lines has fallen from 11 hours to just 2 minutes,” the utility stated. “With fewer outages in these areas, crews can more quickly restore power for other customers. In many areas, average restoration time for all customers has been cut in half during major storms such as tropical storms and hurricanes. The company’s Mainfeeder Hardening program is further reducing storm- related power outages by replacing thousands of older utility poles and cross arms across the company’s system. Average outage time for customers served by hardened mainfeeder lines has fallen by 30%. Dominion Energy Richmond, Virginia Jen Kostyniuk, Senior Director of Economic Development www.dominionenergy.com SOUTH ATLANTIC Corporate facility investment: $26.4 billion Jobs created: 16,264 Population and territory: Duke Energy serves a population of 2.7 million across 90,000 square miles of service area in North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky. Highlights: More than 75 projects landed somewhere in Duke Energy’s six-state territory in 2024. The Duke Energy Site Readiness program, which helps identify, assess, improve and increase awareness of industrial sites in the company’s territory, “continues to bring in businesses and boost our communities,” writes Stu Heishman. Twenty sites completed the Site Readiness Program in 2024, increasing the portfolio of Site Readiness locations to 392 across the six-state territory since the launch of the program in 2005. As a result of projects and companies that have located on a site that participated in the Site Readiness program, 52,800 jobs have been created and $57 billion in new capital has been invested in Duke Energy communities. Duke Energy Charlotte, North Carolina Stu Heishman - Vice President, Economic Development www.duke-energy.com/partner-with-us/economic-development SOUTH ATLANTICCorporate facility investment: $1.8 billion Jobs created: 8,989 Population and territory: FPL serves a population of 12 million in the state of Florida. Highlights: Among the more than 70 projects last year were a $64 million, 250- job investment from aerospace company AAR in Miami-Dade; a $67.5 million, 152-job project from Compass Health in Palm Beach County; and a $90 million, 400-job investment from Boeing in Volusia County. FPL recently updated and re-launched the Florida First Sites program to promote industrial sites across its service area. FloridaFirstSites.com features nearly 40 vetted sites — with more on the way — from the Panhandle to South Florida, says Cathy Chambers. The website includes essential information including electric, gas, water and wastewater infrastructure; road and rail access; proximity to airports and seaports; and a video virtual tour. “This program benefi ts communities served by FPL by promoting not only the sites but the demographics and quality of life in each region in an eff ort to foster economic growth and create jobs,” Chambers writes. “It enhances site visibility and competitiveness, allowing communities to compete for valuable economic development projects.” Florida Power & Light Company (FPL) Juno Beach, Florida Cathy Chambers, Senior Director, Economic Development www.poweringfl orida.com SOUTH ATLANTICCorporate facility investment: $9.1 billion Jobs created: 16,957 Population and territory: Georgia Power provides electric service to more than 2.8 million customers in 155 of the state’s 159 counties, a territory with a population of 5.8 million. Highlights: How busy was 2024 for Georgia Power’s economic development team? Busy enough to send us 16 pages of material in response to our annual survey, as well as a lengthy project list that included a $344.5 million, 600-job facility from glass recycler SOLARCYCLE in Cedartown; a $184-million, 354-job investment from Switzerland-based GF Casting Solutions AG in Augusta that will make components for the BMW plant in South Carolina and a 1,000-job HQ from fantasy sports operator PrizePicks in Atlanta. Manufacturing and data centers drove an overall unprecedented demand for utilities. “Despite projects often being impacted by election-year politics and uncertainty, our project pipeline closed at an all-time high with 312 projects and 88,500 potential jobs, directly tied to the eff orts of the team to generate new leads and focus on site opportunities,” writes Jennifer Zeller. “Offi ce and headquarter projects rebounded this year, refl ected in our top locations, and warehousing and manufacturing locations remain strong, particularly food, aerospace, EV and supply chain. Data center projects comprised 22% of all capital investment and 65% of total energy load demand.” Headlining the utility’s workforce development eff orts is this stat: 158,000 K-12 students engaged. Meanwhile, with the addition of Unit 4 at Georgia Power’s Plant Vogtle nuclear plant in April 2024, Georgia is now the home to the largest generator of emissions-free energy in the United States. The innovative in-house team launched a new update to its online GIS site and building platform called Site Selector and upgraded its proprietary, copyrighted Site Assessment Matrix. New tools included the Project Map Tool to quickly create interactive maps centered around sites and buildings with ESRI demographics and jobs data from Lightcast, and a Tax Digest Tool to visualize a county’s tax digest distribution. Meanwhile, the team launched a second cohort of the CREATE (Cultivating Rural Entrepreneurs and Transforming Economies) program launched with Main Street USA in 2022 and is now working with four Georgia communities (Ellijay/Gilmer, Eatonton/Putnam, Clarkesville/Habersham, Tifton/ Tift) to complete entrepreneurial development strategic plans. Georgia Power Atlanta, Georgia Charlie Moseley, Manager of Statewide Economic Development www.SelectGeorgia.com SOUTH ATLANTIC124 SEPTEMBER 2025 SITE SELECTION Corporate facility investment: $4.2 billion Jobs created: 3,812 Population and territory: Salt River Project serves a territory populated by 2 million people. Highlights: Metro Phoenix growth continues to drive innovative practices in economic development at the same time SRP leads initiatives in water conservation and energy management. In July this year, SRP set a new record by delivering its highest-ever system peak of 8,324 megawatts. Yes, extreme heat is one reason. But so is an increase in the number of SRP commercial and residential power customers. In February of this year SRP put out an RFP that seeks competitive proposals for resources that can provide at least 600 MW of summer capacity by the summer of 2031 and an additional minimum of 500 MW of capacity by the summer of 2032. “SRP is also seeking information on the earliest date that projects can be online,” the utility said, “recognizing the interest and potential for large customer growth.” SRP, NextEra Energy Resources, LLC, the Arizona State Land Department and Babbitt Ranches recently celebrated the completion of the 50-turbine Babbitt Ranch Energy Center, a 161-megawatt (MW) wind project located on Babbitt Ranches property in Coconino County, north of Flagstaff , that will generate around $9.5 million in additional tax revenue to the Coconino County area over the facility’s lifespan while supplying power to Google’s future data center in Mesa. Google is also receiving energy from Sonoran Solar Energy Center, a 260-MW solar facility with a 1 gigawatt-hour battery energy storage system located in Buckeye, and Storey Energy Center, an 88-MW solar and battery energy storage system located in Coolidge. SRP last September recognized Avondale and Scottsdale as SRP Sustainable Cities with a Platinum designation for their sustainable-focused assets and programs. The Sustainable Cities Program is managed by the SRP Economic Development team and economic development consulting fi rm Boyette Strategic Advisors. Salt River Project Tempe, Arizona Karla Moran, Manager, Economic Development www.powertogrowphx.com SOUTHWEST Corporate facility investment: $1.1 billion Jobs created: 3,229 Population and territory: APS serves homes and businesses in 11 of Arizona’s 15 counties, where a population of 1.4 million resides. Highlights: The team continues to collaborate with state, county, regional and municipal economic development groups across Arizona to promote the state as an opportunity for business investment that creates jobs and capital investment expenditures promoting a healthy economy, regardless if it’s in APS service territory. This includes board and committee involvement in 21 public and private organizations focused on statewide economic and commercial development. The team also serves as a community and business advocate for internal navigation and better process development at APS. On the operations side, among infrastructure upgrades was completion of phase one of a major upgrade to a 230 kilovolt (kV) underground transmission line, known as the “backbone” of the metro Phoenix 230kV system, strengthening reliability for customers to support high energy demands and future growth. And APS continues to partner with Salt River Project and Tucson Electric Power to provide support via the Utilities’ Grant Funding Program to Arizona communities impacted by the transition away from coal-fi red power plants. In June this year, Palo Verde Generating Station, a nuclear power plant 50 miles west of downtown Phoenix, celebrated 40 years of operations. Arizona Public Service Phoenix, Arizona Kelly Patton, Economic Development Manager www.aps.com SOUTHWEST SITE SELECTION SEPTEMBER 2025 125 SRP [Salt River Project] is also seeking information on the earliest date that projects can be online, recognizing the interest and potential for large customer growth.” — Salt River Project SRP [Salt River Project] is also Next >