Oracle declares force majeure on US data center, stalled by power permits
Delayed power permits pushed Oracle to invoke force majeure on a data center under construction; permitting is now a real bottleneck for AI capacity, and lease and financing fallout is worth tracking.
Original event 2026-09-24
Oracle has declared force majeure on a large US data center under construction, after local officials delayed the permits needed to power the project.
According to Semafor, the officials held up permits necessary to power the facility, and Oracle may seek to delay lease payments as a result. The report does not name the site or its size.
Hyperscalers are racing to build data centers while facing mounting public opposition and pushback on power plans; if one element in the patchwork of loans, insurance policies and milestone-triggered payments falls out of place, financial backers and insurers can take losses.