Midwest Data Center Investment Conference & Expo
Wed Sep 16, 2026
Midwest Data Center Investment Conference & Expo
Investment, Development and Infrastructure Strategy for the Region's Most Active Build Cycle - To Be Hosted in Chicago
Part of the Bisnow DICE Series
$395.00
Registration Questions?
**Please note we have pricing tiers based on ticket availability. Ticket prices will increase once we sell out of the current pricing tier. We cannot redeem a lower price once the ticket prices have been raised.
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What is the Bisnow DICE Series?
DICE (Data Centers Investment Conference & Expo) is Bisnow's dedicated conference series for the data center industry. Each event convenes the developers, investors, operators and infrastructure providers actively shaping data center growth in that market, with programming built around the deals, challenges and opportunities specific to the region or topic. View all upcoming DICE events here!
Are you an end user?
Hyperscalers, colocation providers (non-sales), investors, private equity, or enterprise tenants - email Virginia.Baker@bisnow.com to be considered for a complimentary pass.
Speakers and Panels
John Day
Travis Tomanek
Robert Montejo
Justin Leon
Amber Zurcher
The Midwest data center market has a new set of rules. This is where you learn them.
Chicago still convenes the market. But Indiana, Ohio, Iowa and Illinois are now where the real decisions get made. Power certainty, state incentive durability, community acceptance and utility queue credibility all have to be solved at the same time — and the teams navigating that reality are doing it without a playbook.
The power market has changed Ohio's 85% take-or-pay precedent, Indiana's utility-linked hyperscale agreements and Iowa's nuclear-backed energy strategy have rewritten the underwriting logic for every Midwest project.
The approval gauntlet is real Utility queue credibility, state incentive durability and community acceptance now have to be solved simultaneously. The projects moving forward are the ones that built strategies for all three at once.
Construction has a new set of constraints Energization timelines are uncertain, rack densities are climbing mid-build and the Midwest's labor and supply chain dynamics are unlike anything the coastal markets have dealt with.
The regulatory environment is still being written Illinois' proposed incentive pause, water reporting requirements and community opposition across the region mean operators are managing relationships with utilities, regulators and host communities simultaneously.
What You Will Learn: Leave with answers to the questions your market is already asking
On the market, approvals and power side:
- How evolving utility frameworks across PJM and MISO territory are creating a more defined path for Midwest projects that can meet the new standard and what it means for projects that cannot.
- What separates Midwest data center projects that move confidently through the approval process from those that stall at the utility queue, incentive or community stage.
- How the most resilient teams are building flexibility into their schedules, capital structures and customer commitments to stay on offense when energization timelines shift.
On the delivery, operations and resource side:
- What it actually takes to deliver large-scale data center projects in the Midwest today, including how regional labor markets, supply chain dynamics and multi-building campus sequencing differ from the coastal construction playbook.
- How cooling design decisions being made today will be evaluated by regulators and host communities in two years and what the coming wave of water reporting and resource accountability requirements means for operators building now.
- What operating a Midwest data center actually looks like once the ribbon is cut: managing utility relationships that have fundamentally shifted, building technical teams in markets where the talent infrastructure is still catching up and meeting a rising bar from enterprise and cloud customers on resilience and reporting.
- Which Midwest markets are emerging as genuine long-term winners as hyperscale demand and energy infrastructure converge across Indiana, Ohio, Iowa and Illinois and what the next decade of regional growth depends on getting right.
Who You'll Network With: Built for the people making Midwest data center decisions
Developers, Owners and Operators: Actively building, acquiring and running Midwest capacity and navigating the approval, delivery and operational challenges that come with it.
Construction and Engineering Professionals: General contractors, structural engineers, procurement specialists and construction technology leaders delivering projects in one of the most active regional build cycles in the country.
Utility and Grid Partners: Utility executives, grid planners and energy strategists from across PJM and MISO territory shaping how Midwest power gets allocated, priced and delivered.
Investors and Capital Partners: Infrastructure lenders, private equity sponsors and capital advisors actively underwriting Midwest data center opportunities and pricing the region's evolving risk profile.
Legal and Public Policy Voices: Land use counsel, economic development officials and state and local policymakers defining the approval, incentive and community engagement landscape across the region.
Technology and Solutions Providers: Cooling, power, construction technology and operations platform companies whose products are being deployed inside the Midwest's most demanding new facilities.
Relevant News and Developments
- AWS Breaks Ground on $11B Data Center Campus in Indiana
- Amazon Announces $15B Additional Investment in Northern Indiana
- Meta Breaks Ground on $10B, 1 GW Lebanon Indiana Campus
- Ohio Regulators Approve AEP's Landmark Data Center Tariff
- Ohio Sets New Precedent: AEP's Power Rules Shift Data Center Cost Burden
- Google and NextEra Announce Collaboration to Restart Iowa's Duane Arnold Nuclear Plant
- Google and NextEra to Revive Iowa Nuclear Facility as AI Energy Demand Surges
- Illinois Governor Pritzker Proposes Two-Year Suspension of Data Center Tax Incentives
- Illinois Freezes Data Center Tax Incentives Amid Energy Concerns
- Illinois Lawmakers Debate Data Center Regulations as POWER Act Advances
- NiSource Announces Long-Term Energy Agreements with Alphabet and Amazon for Indiana Data Centers
- NIPSCO to Supply 3 GW to Amazon Data Centers in Northern Indiana
- Microsoft Pauses $1B Data Center Plans in Licking County Ohio
- Ohio Regulators Approve AEP Data Center Interconnection Rules
For questions or interests in becoming a speaker or sponsor, please email our global director, data centers, Adam Knobloch, at adam.knobloch@bisnow.com
To request disability-related accommodations, please contact ally.araco@bisnow.com no later than seven business days prior to the event.
Venue
Loews Chicago O’Hare
5300 N River Road
Rosemont, IL 60018
Ballroom/Floor: Guggenheim Ballroom / Main Lobby Level
Parking Information:
Event parking at $10 for the day per car.
Guests must pull a ticket for access and bring it to registration to have it validated for the discounted rate.
Agenda
| Time | Activity |
|---|---|
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7:30 AM 8:30 AM |
Registration, Breakfast and Networking
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8:30 AM 9:15 AM |
The Business of Building Data Centers: The Conversations Happening in the Boardroom
Data centers are the most capital-intensive, politically exposed and publicly scrutinized asset class in commercial real estate right now. Explore how development firm executives and project leads are actually navigating the reputation problem, community relations arms race, gap between announced commitments and deliverable capacity, and pressure to move faster than the grid or public debate will allow.
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9:15 AM 10:00 AM |
Earning the Right to Build: What It Takes to Get a Midwest Project Off the Ground
The bar for what constitutes a viable Midwest data center project has risen. Utility queue credibility, state incentive durability, community acceptance and entitlement certainty now have to be solved simultaneously rather than sequentially. Explore how the most sophisticated teams are building approval strategies that hold up under scrutiny.
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10:00 AM 10:30 AM |
Coffee Break and Networking
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10:30 AM 11:15 AM |
Building with Optionality: Protecting Your Schedule, Capital and Customer Commitments
The most resilient Midwest projects are not the ones where everything goes according to plan. They are the ones where enough flexibility was built into the schedule, the capital structure and the customer commitments to absorb uncertainty without losing momentum. Explore how leading teams are rethinking phasing strategies, long-lead procurement and financing structures to stay on offense when energization timelines shift and what the most effective approaches look like for keeping projects moving and capital productive through the delivery process.
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11:15 AM 12:00 PM |
From Shovel to Shell: Delivering Midwest Data Centers at the Speed of Demand
The Midwest is in the middle of one of the most aggressive data center build cycles in its history and the construction teams delivering that capacity are navigating a set of challenges that didn't exist five years ago. Examine what it actually takes to deliver large-scale data center projects in today's Midwest: how the region's labor markets, supply chain dynamics and structural procurement strategies are shaping project timelines, how teams are sequencing multi-building campuses to keep capital productive across long build cycles and how the best teams are staying ahead of shifting rack density requirements and power architecture decisions without letting mid-build changes blow up the schedule or the budget.
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12:00 PM 1:00 PM |
Lunch and Networking
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1:00 PM 1:45 PM |
Water Is the New Power: The Resource Battle That Will Define the Next Wave of Midwest Development
The Midwest's cooler climate and available land were never going to stay uncontested advantages forever. Illinois lawmakers are advancing water reporting requirements and closed-loop efficiency mandates. Communities in Sangamon County, Waverly and Metro East are asking for peak-day water demand figures that host communities are only beginning to ask for. Examine what the coming wave of resource accountability looks like in practice, how cooling design decisions being made today will be evaluated by regulators and host communities in two years and whether the industry gets ahead of the disclosure conversation or waits to be forced into it.
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2:00 PM 2:45 PM |
No Playbook: Operating Midwest Data Centers When the Market Is Writing the Rules in Real Time
Operating a Midwest data center right now means managing relationships in three directions simultaneously: with your utility, your workforce and your customers. None of those relationships look the way they did when the facility was underwritten. Explore how operators are navigating utility expectations that have fundamentally shifted, building technical teams in markets where the talent infrastructure is still catching up to the build cycle and meeting a customer base whose demands on resilience, reporting and reliability are rising faster than the industry's standards for addressing them.
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2:45 PM 3:00 PM |
Networking Break
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3:00 PM 3:45 PM |
Where It All Lands: How Energy Infrastructure and Demand Are Reshaping the Midwest
The Midwest did not become one of the most watched data center markets in North America by accident. The convergence of hyperscale demand, evolving utility structures and a regional energy landscape in the middle of its own transformation has created a market that looks fundamentally different than it did three years ago and is still changing. Examine where the Midwest stands as a region: which markets are emerging as genuine long-term winners, how the relationship between energy infrastructure and data center demand is evolving across Indiana, Ohio, Iowa and Illinois and what the next decade of Midwest growth actually depends on getting right.
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3:45 PM 4:30 PM |
Post-Event Cocktail Party
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