Can US Utilities Meet AI’s Need for Speed?
Around 70% of global data-center capacity under construction is in the U.S. This has increased the country’s annual electricity growth projections sixfold. Data centers also need power quickly, as semiconductor chips and server innovation cycles occur every two to three years. A data center delayed through sluggish power procurement can see its asset life rapidly depreciate if its original technology designs become suboptimal or obsolete.1
While headlines of new data-center deals may signal a broad tailwind for the growth thesis for U.S. utilities, they still face a tough set of options to meet these timelines. New gas plants may offer reliable power, but turbine backlogs through 2029 present a challenging timeline.2 While solar and storage offers a quicker construction timeline, supply-chain bottlenecks and the more nascent stage of utility-scale battery-storage technology can limit adoption.3 Restarting most conventional nuclear sites, or the successful commercialization of small-modular-reactor (SMR) technology remains unlikely before 2030 for the majority of proposed projects. Acquiring power projects under construction is another option, but those projects now face heightened regulatory scrutiny due to affordability concerns.4
For investors, tools such as the MSCI Energy Transition Framework can help assess which power solutions are commercially viable within these contraints, not only identifying viable opportunities, but pinpointing likely bottlenecks in the growth ambitions of tech companies relying on timely data-center buildout.
This chart shows the revenue percentages of 18 U.S. utility constituents of the MSCI ACWI Investable Market Index (IMI) across different energy transition-related power-generation technologies. All of the displayed companies operate in the 10 states with the largest planned data-center energy demands, as of March 29, 2026. For planned data-center capacity, see: Gavin Maguire, “Charting the data center development roadmap in key US states”, Reuters, Jan. 22, 2026.
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1 “The $4trn accounting puzzle at the heart of the AI cloud,” Economist, Sept. 18, 2025.
2 Rebecca F. Elliot, “Why a Plane-Size Machine Could Foil a Race to Build Gas Power Plants,” New York Times, May 6, 2025.
3 The MSCI Energy Transition Framework analyzes 156 transition solution pathways on their level of commercial adoptability, based on MSCI analysis of cost parity, decarbonization potential, market acceptance and development, resource and supply-chain maturity and license to operate. For the full methodology, see: “MSCI Energy Transition Framework Methodology,” MSCI Research, October 2025.
4 At least 25 data-center projects in the U.S. were canceled in 2025 (vs. 2 in 2023), and concerns related to energy affordability were the second-highest reason after environmental issues. Source: Robinson Meyer, “Amid Rising Local Pushback, U.S. Data Center Cancellations Surged in 2025,” Heatmap News, Jan. 12, 2026.
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