Data centers and new power in Rensselaer County, NY

640 MW of new power is waiting to connect to the grid in Rensselaer County, NY — 4 active requests. Typical wait: 3.7 years. 2 projects are built, 15 withdrawn. Data as of 14 October 2026.

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Is one near your house?

We have not mapped a large AI data center inside Rensselaer County itself — but we track the biggest ones nationally, and requests to connect new power here are on the public record.

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The power picture

What is happening with electricity in Rensselaer County

Every new power plant, battery or big customer has to join a waiting list before it can plug into the grid. This is what that list looks like in Rensselaer County right now.

640 MW
of new power is waiting to connect
4 projects asked. Not yet approved. Roughly what 512,000 homes use.
20 MW
has actually been built
2 projects switched on so far.
3.7 yrs
typical wait to plug in

Where every request ever filed here ended up

  • Built 10%
  • Still waiting 19%
  • Withdrawn 71%

Most requests in the US are withdrawn — a developer tests a site and moves on. That is normal, not a warning sign for Rensselaer County.

What kind of power is asking to connect

  • Batteries 94%
  • Solar 6%

By capacity requested. Data as of 14 October 2026.

All the numbers

21 requests ever filed
Pending applications
4
of 21 ever filed
Capacity queued
640 MW
requested, not committed
Already built
20 MW
2 projects connected
Built vs decided
11.8%
15 withdrawn
Median wait
3.7 yr
for applications still pending
Connected capacity
949 MW
indicator, see note

Source: interconnection queues published by ISONE, NYISO. Parsed and normalised by Watt Street. Data as of 14 October 2026. A queued project is a request, not a commitment.

Outcome of every request filed here

OutcomeProjectsCapacityShare
Built220 MW9.5%
Still waiting4640 MW19.0%
Withdrawn15605 MW71.4%
Paused0—0.0%

Waiting to connect, by type of power

TypeProjectsCapacity requested
Batteries2600 MW
Solar240 MW

Key dates for projects here

1 dated · next closes 2026-11-19 (ISONE)
QueueWhat closesClosesStanding
ISONEISO-NE cluster request window
Cluster study under OATT Schedules 22, 23 and 25.
2026-11-19disputed source
FERCFERC large-load show cause — stakeholder comments on RTO responses
Comments on the six RTO/ISO responses to the FPA section 206 show-cause orders of 18 June 2026 (PJM EL26-67, SPP EL26-68, NYISO EL26-69, MISO EL26-70…
No date published yetunconfirmed source
FERCFERC RM26-4 — generic large-load rulemaking
Still at ANOPR stage.
No date published yetconfirmed source
FERCGeorgia PSC - Georgia Power must file large-load contracts 30 days before execution
A standing obligation rather than a dated one: large-load contracts must be filed with the commission at least 30 days before they are executed.
No date published yetconfirmed source
NYISONYISO cluster request window
Class Year deliverability construct plus the new cluster process.
No date published yetconfirmed source

A date marked confirmed was checked by a person against the authority's own tariff, order or form page. Anything else is listed so you know it exists, with a link so you can check it yourself. Full calendar.

The biggest projects on file

top 15 by size
ProjectTypeCapacityStatusFiledQueue
Willard StorageBatteries300 MWactive2024-09NYISO
Willard Storage (NYISO-C24-148)Batteries300 MWactive2024-12ISONE
Topaz Storage ProjectBatteries200 MWwithdrawn2021-09NYISO
Empire WindWind120 MWwithdrawn2015-10NYISO
Speckhardt Energy StorageBatteries100 MWwithdrawn2022-12NYISO
NY Schodack 634 Knickerbocker Rd StorageBatteries57 MWwithdrawn2022-07NYISO
NY Nassau 0 Waterbury Rd Storage ABatteries25 MWwithdrawn2022-04NYISO
CS Hawthorn SolarSolar20 MWactive2019-05NYISO
Hilltop SolarSolar20 MWwithdrawn2019-03NYISO
Craillo PlazaBatteries20 MWwithdrawn2019-12NYISO
Knickerbocker SolarBatteries20 MWwithdrawn2020-06NYISO
Half Moon SolarBatteries20 MWwithdrawn2020-06NYISO
Hosmer Solar, LLCSolar20 MWwithdrawn2020-09NYISO
StephentownOther20 MWcompleted2007-09NYISO
SolarSolar20 MWactive2021-07ISONE

How Rensselaer County compares

#539 in the US · #20 in NY

Rensselaer County ranks #539 of 1,607 US counties by power waiting to connect, and #20 of 57 in New York.

CountyWaitingCapacity queued
Suffolk County273.7 GW
Kings County83.1 GW
Orange County101.6 GW
Ulster County111.3 GW
Steuben County81.3 GW
Dutchess County71.1 GW
Nassau County21.1 GW
Genesee County4926 MW

Common questions about power in Rensselaer County

How long does it take to get power for a data center in Rensselaer County, NY?

The median wait for a project still in the interconnection queue in Rensselaer County is 3.7 years. Across the US, most large loads are quoted three to seven years depending on the market and whether network upgrades are needed. 2 projects in Rensselaer County have reached energization and 15 were withdrawn, so the withdrawal rate here is a better guide to risk than any single quoted timeline.

How much capacity is available in Rensselaer County, NY?

640 MW is currently requested across 4 active interconnection requests, and 20 MW has actually been built. A queued megawatt is a request, not deliverable capacity — most queued projects are never built. For deliverable offtake capacity at a specific substation you need a utility study, not a queue.

Is Rensselaer County, NY a good site for a data center?

This page gives you the power half of that answer: what is queued, what has been energized, how long the wait runs, and which large load interconnection requests are already recorded nearby. The other half — the state policy position, moratoriums and large load tariffs — is on our New York policy page.

Where does the data on this page come from?

The interconnection queue published by the transmission providers serving Rensselaer County — ISONE, NYISO — parsed and normalised by Watt Street. Every figure carries the date it was true. Data as of 14 October 2026.

Go deeper on Rensselaer County

The interactive map plots every one of these applications, and a generated county report puts them in a sourced PDF with the date each figure was true on every page.

Open Rensselaer County on the map County reports All of New York