Analysts: US isn't short of electricity, it's short of places to plug in
US power demand is rising, but the real constraint is not generation capacity — it is how fast sites can connect to the grid, with average waits exceeding four years in major markets. JLL and CBRE report that sites offering power within 18–36 months are scarce and are repricing land.
- US data centers used about 176 TWh in 2023, or 4.4% of all US electricity
- Average grid connection waits in major markets exceed four years
- 98.5% of 2026 site-selection respondents rated power availability important
- ERCOT projects 2030 summer peak demand above 150 GW, including roughly 50 GW of large loads
Read next
Science