Hawkins: 85% of Compass data centers are prefabricated off-site
Raymond Hawkins · The electrician shortage slowing the AI boom · Aug 6, 2026 · at 23:22
Raymond Hawkins, an executive at Compass Datacenters, discusses modular construction techniques and off-site prefabrication with host Shayle Kann.
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“It's about 85% of the building gets snapped into place showing up on the flatbed of a truck.”
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“There's a lot of that at data center sites where you are bringing the labor especially in these tier three, tier four markets, and providing places for them to live and eat and stay so that they can be near the job. Because, you know, 40 miles outside Jackson,…”
Hawkins: Electrician costs have tripled over the last decade
“Without a doubt. Yeah, the electrician the cost for electricians You know, I'm going to give you a, you know, estimate has tripled in the time I've been in the business. Yeah. In the last decade.”
Labor ranks behind power and community pushback as data center bottlenecks
“Power and is, is the biggie, and the community has raced up the list pretty quickly. You know, didn't think we'd be at the White House six months ago talking about who pays for infrastructure on the grid, but we are. And right after that would be labor.”
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“And so by doing offsite manufacturing, putting together large components of our data centers offsite, it allows for a safer, more diverse, and more reliable product, right? Safer for the employees, more diverse, because giving somebody, hey, you can be here fr…”
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“It is completely normal to talk about gigawatt campuses today.”
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