Regional Roundup: Indiana, Michigan, DFW

Here is a roundup of some regional data center news around the United States:

• Midwest ISO seeks new home for backup data site. Major power consortium Midwest ISO is looking for a new home for their $35 million backup data site after the Boone County (Indiana) Commissioners voted down their rezoning request for land.  Due to a stipulation from the Department of Homeland Security, Midwest ISO was looking to build its 17-acre, $35 million data center in a rural area, away from major highways, railways and airports.  This is the second time they have been turned down in Boone county. Ten years ago they were turned down when they wanted to build a headquarters near Zionsville.  Midwest ISO recently announced expansion of their headquarters in Carmel, Indiana; investing around $110 million to upgrade computer equipment and adding 70 jobs over the next five years.
• Growth in Michigan for Online Tech.  CEO of Ann Arbor-based Online Technologies Yan Ness credits the cold Michigan temperatures for the continued growth of his business.  Online Tech has three data centers -  a 30,500 square foot facility in Genesee County, 10,500 square feet south of Ann Arbor in Avis Park and the newest facility, 5,000 square feet in down town Ann Arbor. Recently Online Tech won an Ann Arbor SPARK's Fast Track award for a fourth consecutive year.  The award honors companies that maintain average annual revenue growth of 20% for three consecutive years.
• Texas data center demand outpacing supply. Sheila Bellinger, VP and Southwest director of the Grub & Ellis National Data Center Group spoke at Datacenter Dynamics Dallas Thursday on the topic of supply and demand for data center space in the Dallas-ForthWorth area.  Bellinger noted that about 1.5 million square feet of data center space was absorbed by the Dallas-FortWorth market over the past three years.  Although power costs in the area are expensive, other factors such as fiber-optic infrastructure, favorable regulatory environment and low construction costs are what drives demand.  Bellinger said that Texas is consuming more power than any other state in the U.S.

I am a little bit partial to this last story: Waterloo, Fastest (Internet) Town in the Midwest.  Stacey Higginbotham from GigaOm reports on a local newspaper story about Waterloo Iowa having faster broadband than even the most wired cities.  Mediacom selected Waterloo to (soon) have 105 Mbps cable Internet service on the downlink thanks to the town's willingness to get involved in bringing better broadband to its residents.