Compute center deals sized to get approved.
We bring you standalone sites that pay their own way on power and meet the checks towns are writing into their rules.
Communities are blocking large data center campuses. Opposition now decides which projects get built.
Contested projects fail about half the time, and banks now weigh community sentiment as a credit factor. Most new local bans target sites over 20 to 25 MW, which leaves room for standalone sites below that line.
Projected global use in 2030, up from 415 TWh in 2024. The US accounts for almost half of the growth.
IEA, Energy and AI (2025)
Inference is moving to regional sites built where the power is. EPRI and Nvidia are piloting 5 to 20 MW sites at substations with spare capacity, and CBRE sees urban infill of 2 to 20 MW gaining momentum.
IEEE Spectrum on the EPRI pilots; CBRE, North America Data Center Trends H1 2026
Of contested data center projects canceled in 2026. Banks now weigh community sentiment as a credit factor.
Heatmap; Reuters, Aug 2026
What Zero Circle does on every deal.
Zero Circle does not invest. We introduce lenders and equity to the same deal, so you can share it and hold the ticket size you want.
We review the site, power plan, contracts and model before a deal reaches you. The operator pays for this review and you see all of it. It does not replace your independent engineer; it gives them a complete file on day one.
We test tranches, terms and credit support against the asset behind each one, so the risks are called out before your credit work starts.
We stay involved after close and keep you updated on construction, power and payments, so issues surface early.
We check permits, utility rules and disclosure requirements for each site, and flag gaps for counsel before close.
The community standard for compute is now public.
On November 5, 2026, OpenAI published a National Community Compact for the compute campuses it owns and operates, and a policy blueprint asking lawmakers to set similar rules for the whole industry.
Community acceptance now has a published benchmark. We review every site against it before a deal reaches you.
Source: OpenAI, Setting a new standard for responsible AI infrastructure and the National Community Compact (November 2026).
- Pays the full cost of its grid power and the infrastructure to serve it
- No NDAs with public officials
- Publishes noise, water and energy use for each site
- Cuts demand when the grid is under stress
- Provides financial assurances so other customers are not left with stranded grid costs
Criteria we work to
Community opposition is now a credit risk. These are the criteria we work through with each operator before an introduction, each one something a third party can check.
Sources: Gallup, Heatmap, Dominion Energy and local ordinances, 2026.
Sized to substation headroom and local rules, and never split from a larger campus.
Most new local bans start at 20 to 25 MW, so each site is sized to the local line, and splitting campuses invites tighter rules.
Cuts demand or returns stored power when the grid needs it, which helps keep the lights on in emergencies.
No new transmission lines, and no new grid build that lands on local bills.
Interconnection and upgrades paid upfront, with a contracted minimum demand.
Keeps water off the list of objections.
Sized and permitted, with fuel and runtime set by local permits.
Away from homes, schools and parks, with independent noise studies before and after opening.
Plans are public before the first hearing, with no NDAs for public officials.
Tax arrangements and community investments are public, so they cannot fuel a recall.
The largest data center market in the US, inside PJM where data center load now drives power bills. Loudoun, Prince William and Culpeper have moved data centers from by-right approval to public hearings, so every site we work on plans for that. It is also where we are already working with communities on resilience.
We are piloting a resilience evaluation layer, which turns this checklist into a scored record, and a resilience investment layer, so a site's benefit to the community can be assessed and financed alongside the power.
What you get
We only bring you operators that meet the criteria you give us, with the answers to your first questions already in hand.
Mid-size and edge operators need mid-market amounts on shorter terms than the hyperscale deals in the market today.
When an operator pays on a first tranche, the next one goes to a borrower with a payment record.
Before an introduction, we work through the criteria towns now write into their rules: size, power, water, setbacks and disclosure.
What is inside a compute center
Each part of a site is financed and insured differently, which shows you where your money goes and what protects it.
| Part | What it does | Financed in | Insurance it needs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Power equipment | Brings in power from the grid and keeps the site running in an outage: transformers, backup batteries and generators. | Power project | Property and equipment breakdown |
| Computers | The servers and chips that do the work, plus the storage and network gear around them. | Compute tranche | Property |
| Building and systems | The building itself, with cooling, fire protection, security and the software that monitors it all. | Site financing | Builder's risk, then property |
Business interruption cover pays for lost income if any part stops working, and cyber cover protects the monitoring software.
These questions come from a team that ran supply chain risk and built ESG ratings for 9 million private companies at Dun & Bradstreet.
- Customers and contracts: who buys the compute, at what price and for how long
- Financials: revenue, burn, current debt and what it costs
- Equipment and site: chips on hand or ordered, lease or ownership, power
- Team: operating history of the people running the sites
- Community fit: size line, power source, cooling, setbacks and disclosure
- Credit support: guarantees, reserves and collateral the operator can offer
How it works
- 1Book a call
Twenty minutes on what you fund, your ticket size and terms, and what rules a deal out.
- 2We qualify operators
We work through each operator's contracts, financials, equipment and credit support.
- 3We introduce the ones that fit
You see the operators that match your criteria, with what we found.
- 4Close and follow on
We support the deal through close and the next tranche.
Who it fits
- Private credit and infrastructure funds that want compute center exposure
- Equipment lenders financing compute and power equipment
- Family offices that fund energy and digital infrastructure
- Capital partners who prefer mid-market tickets and shorter terms
- Mandates limited to investment-grade borrowers
- Mandates that only take hyperscale deals
Questions capital partners ask
- Does Zero Circle lend alongside us?
- No. We bring you operators that meet your criteria. The credit decision stays with you.
- Do you finance GPUs?
- We lead with power and with revenue backed by customer contracts. GPU-only tranches are outside what we underwrite today.
- How does Zero Circle get paid?
- The operator pays us: a short retainer, and a fee tied to the close. We cover the details on the call.
- Have you closed a compute deal?
- Not yet. Zero Circle helps mid-market energy projects get to financing, and compute is new for us. The first introductions will come from the operators we are speaking with.
Invest in compute.
Twenty minutes on your ticket size, your terms and what rules a deal out.
Or write to contact@zerocircle.eco.
