Apple Considering Building Huge New Data Center in Oregon

OregonLive.com reports that Apple is currently deciding whether to commit to building a major new data center in Prineville, Oregon that would complement its newly-opened facility in Maiden, North Carolina. Apple currently has an option to purchase 160 acres of land for the potential Prineville data center near a recently-opened Facebook data center, and Apple has until the end of this month to exercise that option or allow it to expire.

The world's largest tech company is nearing a decision on whether to build a large data center in Prineville, a quarter mile south of the Facebook server farm that opened earlier this year, according to two people with direct knowledge of Apple's plans.

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Those familiar with the discussions say that Apple's Oregon plans have been in flux while it awaited word on whether there would be adequate electricity transmission in Prineville to meet its needs.

With transmission capacity expanding and other companies now looking elsewhere, a door opened for Apple.

Apple's project, codenamed "Maverick", is said to initially include a 31-megawatt data center, with plenty of land available for future expansion should the need arise and electricity capacity for the area prove sufficient. Apple's electricity demand for its North Carolina has not been disclosed, but some sources have estimated it in the range of 100 megawatts.

Facebook's data center in Prineville, Oregon
Apple has been working hard to expand its data center capacity to handle iCloud and other services, having invested $1 billion in the North Carolina center and revealing a master plan that could see the size of the facility double in the future. Apple also maintains a smaller data center in Newark, California and has been building out minor additional capacity in Santa Clara, California near its corporate headquarters in Cupertino.

Data center industry observers have been expecting Apple to continue building out West Coast data center capacity, as most large tech companies seek to locate major facilities along each coast of the United States to provide redundancy and optimize performance.