Table of Contents
ValorC3 prioritizes locations where some level of power is immediately available and can scale over a five-year horizon to meet customer demand
In sum – what to know:
Power timing is decisive – In tier-one U.S. markets, grid access can take four to seven years, making immediate or near-term availability the top site selection criterion.
Secondary markets gain relevance – ValorC3 is expanding in Oklahoma, Idaho, and Utah, targeting regions where 5–40 MW deployments can secure scalable power within five years.
Standardization enables speed – Repeatable designs and defined installation timelines help balance rapid deployment with quality control as customer urgency increases.
As AI workloads accelerate across the U.S., access to power — not land or even cost — is emerging as the defining constraint for data center growth. For ValorC3, that reality is reshaping site selection, development models, and geographic strategy.
Jim Buie, CEO of ValorC3 Data Centers, said in an interview with RCR Wireless News, that grid availability has become the dominant factor in expansion planning.
“It’s almost everything. Having availability of power in the time frame that your client needs it. In some of the tier one markets, you see power not being available for four, five, six, seven years,” the executive said.
That dynamic is pushing the company toward secondary U.S. markets where capacity can be secured more quickly. ValorC3 prioritizes locations where some level of power is immediately available and can scale over a five-year horizon to meet customer demand.
The company also emphasizes close coordination with utilities and regulators. “We partner closely with the utility companies to ensure that we’re not disruptive. We want to be a good corporate citizen, working with regulatory agencies, the politicians, and the consumers in those markets to ensure that we’re not a strain on the grid, but that we’re able to balance that need of our clients with the utility that’s available,” he added.
With speed-to-power often outweighing traditional site selection factors, development models are also evolving. Buie says standardization is key. “We have to create standards in the industry but also among our clients so that we can balance speed and delivery. We want repeatable deployments that we can tell customers exactly how long installation will take.”
Repeatability across design and construction reduces uncertainty and accelerates timelines, particularly for new builds or data hall expansions. “Having standards around our design and building and repeating that design over and over again is key to balancing speed and delivery. And with quality — we care about the quality most of all.”
ValorC3 focuses on 5–40 MW facilities in U.S. secondary markets. The company currently operates in Oklahoma, Idaho and Utah, with expansion plans in additional secondary regions. “If you’re in a secondary market in the United States, you’ll be on our list for expansion with our client base.”
In an environment where grid bottlenecks are delaying hyperscale growth in major metros, the company sees opportunity in markets that can deliver power — and deliver it fast, according to Buie.
