This week's intelligence covers four major developments shaping the industrial construction landscape: the historic shift in data center spending, new LNG export capacity coming online, the Gulf Coast project pipeline, and the widening workforce gap that underpins all of it.
Data Center Construction Surpasses Office Buildings for the First Time
In a milestone that signals a fundamental shift in American construction, spending on data center projects has officially overtaken office building construction for the first time in U.S. history. According to Bloomberg, data center construction costs have jumped to $11 million per megawatt, up from $8 million just a year prior.
The numbers are staggering. Total spending on U.S. data center construction starts reached an estimated $77.7 billion in 2025 — a 190% year-over-year increase, according to ConstructConnect. And the pipeline is accelerating: 76 data center projects set to start in the next six months alone are valued at over $88 billion, already a 13% increase over all of 2025.
Key projects driving the surge:
- Vantage Data Centers — Frontier (Shackelford County, TX): $25 billion, 3.7 million sq ft, 1.4 GW capacity. Kiewit Corporation is the lead contractor, with the first building scheduled for delivery in the second half of 2026.
- Meta — Hyperion (Richland Parish, LA): Over $10 billion, 4 million sq ft, scaling to 5 GW. Turner Construction, DPR Construction, and M.A. Mortenson are leading the build through 2030.
- Compass — Meridian (Mississippi): $10 billion across eight buildings, 320 MW capacity, targeting 2033 completion.
- Anthropic's $50 billion investment with Fluidstack, beginning in Texas and New York.
For the full year 2025, Virginia led with $15.3 billion in data center starts, followed by Louisiana at $15 billion, Mississippi at $13.9 billion, and Texas at $13.4 billion. Three of the top four states are in PSV's core operating region.
DOE Approves 13% Export Increase at Plaquemines LNG
The U.S. Department of Energy approved an immediate 13% increase in feed gas volumes at Venture Global's Plaquemines LNG facility in Louisiana, allowing an additional 0.45 Bcf/d of exports to non-free-trade-agreement countries. The facility can now handle 3.85 Bcf/d in feed gas, making it the second-largest LNG export terminal in the United States after Cheniere Energy's Sabine Pass.
Total U.S. LNG feed gas is running at 19.5 Bcf, just shy of the all-time record of 19.6 Bcf set in January. The DOE expects total LNG exports to increase by 10% from 2025 levels this year.
Meanwhile, Glenfarne's proposed Alaska LNG facility continues advancing. The company has secured 13 MTPA in offtake agreements with major buyers including Japan's JERA and Tokyo Gas, with another 3 MTPA needed before reaching final investment decision. Worley has been provisionally engaged for engineering, procurement, and construction management on Phase I.
Houston Anchors $15 Billion in Active Industrial Projects
Industrial Info Resources reports that the Greater Houston area currently has $15 billion worth of projects under active construction, spanning chemicals, manufacturing, and oil and gas.
Notable projects in the pipeline:
- LyondellBasell: Two projects totaling $800 million in Channelview, TX, including a metathesis unit designed to produce 882 million pounds per year of propylene, targeting 2028 commercial operations.
- Strategic Petroleum Reserve — Bryan Mound: A life extension project replacing equipment, piping, bridges, and systems to extend the SPR's operational life by 25 years.
- Natural Gas Pipeline of America: Texas-Louisiana Expansion Project adding 300 million standard cubic feet per day of mainline capacity through major compressor station modifications.
Gulf Coast chemical producers are also investing heavily in reliability. Industrial Info is tracking more than $480 million in maintenance projects at chemical plants kicking off in Q1 2026 alone. BASF accounts for over 25% of that investment, with major turnarounds at its Port Arthur complex covering C-4 production, ethylene units, and pygas processing.
Additionally, 12 new or expanded natural gas pipeline projects are scheduled for completion in Texas, Louisiana, and Oklahoma in 2026, boosting Gulf Coast gas transport capacity by 13%. This buildout is being led by LNG exporters, utilities, and data centers — a shift from the traditional producer-led investment model.
The Workforce Gap: 456,000 New Workers Needed by 2027
The Associated Builders and Contractors estimates the construction industry will need 349,000 net new workers in 2026 — and that number jumps to 456,000 in 2027, a 30.7% increase. According to ABC, the majority of 2026 demand is driven by retirement rather than spending growth, underscoring the structural nature of this shortage.
The welding workforce remains a critical bottleneck. The American Welding Society projects that over 330,000 new welding professionals will be needed by 2028, with 82,500 positions to fill annually. The average age of a U.S. welder is 55, with roughly 30% of the workforce reaching retirement eligibility.
These numbers exist against a backdrop of unprecedented demand. The modular construction market alone is projected to grow from $107.83 billion in 2025 to $116.81 billion in 2026 (8.3% CAGR), reaching $158 billion by 2030. Every dollar of that growth requires skilled craft labor that doesn't yet exist in sufficient numbers.
The Bottom Line
The convergence of data center investment, LNG expansion, Gulf Coast petrochemical activity, and a deepening workforce shortage creates a market environment that rewards one thing above all else: execution capability. Companies with integrated fabrication capacity, trained crews, and the systems to deliver at scale are positioned to capture outsized share of a multi-trillion-dollar pipeline.
PSV Industries was built for exactly this moment.