The Office of Indian Energy works with Tribal leaders and staff on the topic of data center development and partnerships. While data centers have been around for a long time, larger data centers continue to be built to support growth in the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and manufacturing.
Data centers vary greatly in size, use case, and how much energy they use. Some are small units, requiring less than a megawatt (MW) of power, whereas others are very large and require gigawatts of power—such as those used for massive-scale operations and high efficiency, like AI data centers.
Opportunities and Considerations for Tribes
Partnering with a data center developer holds tremendous opportunity right now—from land leases, to selling power to the data center through a power purchase agreement, to infrastructure development and job expansion. Although there are several benefits, factors such as water use; local and community impacts; and transmission infrastructure, interconnection, and fiber access requirements should be considered.
Resources and Frequently Asked Questions
The Office of Indian Energy engages with Tribal leaders and staff on the topic of data centers. There are several resources available to review:
- Blog post - Data Centers: Exploring the Opportunity for Tribes (January 2026)
- Webinar recording - Beyond Land Leases: Harnessing Data Centers for Tribal Economic Development (February 2026)
- Fact Sheet - Harnessing Data Centers for Tribal Economic Development (March 2026)
- Blog Post - Frequently Asked Questions (May 2026)
The Office of Indian Energy Can Support Many Different Stages of the Planning Process
- Curious whether you have a good site for a data center?
- Approached by a developer?
- Interested in finding a developer to partner with?
- Considering legal, regulatory, and/or utility impacts of a data center?
- Looking for energy project funding?
At the Office of Indian Energy, we recognize many Tribes know how to design, permit, construct, and operate large infrastructure, often requiring reliable 24/7 power with robust cybersecurity controls. Those same skills are relevant, for example, to developing megawatt- or even gigawatt-scale data centers. We have worked with many of you before, and we are available to work with you again.
The Office of Indian Energy supports Tribes in several ways:
- Our financial assistance can help enable energy projects to power a data center. To date, our competitive awards have included funds for project planning and for generation and distribution buildouts, all of which might be helpful in bringing a data center to your area.
- Our technical assistance is free of charge for Tribes and covers a broad range of options, including support for evaluating generation, site requirements, or other considerations for your area. We also offer legal assistance to help evaluate deals and structure the regulatory or utility environment.
- Our resources available to Tribes include a template that can help you pitch your site to data center developers, make connections with potential partners, and get workforce development support—all of which can help you evaluate and frame the opportunity of a data center.
Want to learn more about data centers? Reach out to the Office of Indian Energy at IE-datacenters@hq.doe.gov.