Kansas market leads SPP ISO for data center development capacity as platform tracks 286 markets across seven grid operators
## Highlights
Rural SPP, Kansas secured the second-highest BUILD ranking in DC Hub's Data Center Power Index (DCPI) on May 23, 2026, with an excess power score of **67.2** and a constraint score of 22.5. The market trails only Cheyenne, Wyoming (69.5 excess) in the national ranking and leads all SPP ISO markets for available grid capacity.
The DCPI BUILD ranking identifies markets with the strongest combination of excess generation capacity and minimal transmission constraints — the two factors that determine whether a market can absorb large-scale data center loads without triggering interconnection delays or reliability issues.
## What It Means
Rural SPP's position reflects the **Southwest Power Pool's** expanding generation fleet and comparatively low load density across Kansas and neighboring states. Markets in the SPP footprint have emerged as alternatives to congested hubs like Northern Virginia (14.5 excess, 64.2 constraint) and Phoenix (34.8 excess, 61.5 constraint), both flagged in today's AVOID category.
The top three BUILD markets span three ISOs — WECC (Cheyenne), SPP (Rural SPP), and ERCOT (Midlothian, TX at 65.6 excess) — signaling that developers are prioritizing **grid fundamentals over proximity to traditional colocation markets**.
## Methodology
DC Hub's DCPI scores are derived from real-time substation monitoring, ISO queue analysis, and generation dispatch data across **126,161 substations** in seven grid operators. The platform now tracks **286 markets** in 170+ countries, with weekly coverage growth of 221.3% in tracked markets over the past seven days.
**Source:** DC Hub Data Center Power Index (https://dchub.cloud/dcpi). Updated daily.
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