The US is in the middle of an infrastructure buildout that hasn’t been seen since the fiber-optic frenzy of the late 1990s. This time, the catalyst isn’t dial-up internet going broadband. It’s artificial intelligence.
Data centers are expanding at a breakneck pace to keep up with the computational demands of AI workloads, and the numbers are staggering. According to MarketsandMarkets, the US AI data center market is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 29% through 2032. In English: the physical infrastructure powering AI is roughly doubling every two and a half years.
The power problem no one can ignore
Here’s the thing about AI data centers. They’re not just bigger versions of the server farms that host your email and streaming services. They’re dramatically more power-hungry.
US data centers consumed 183 terawatt-hours of electricity in 2024, according to the International Energy Agency. That figure is projected to balloon to 426 TWh by 2030. For context, 183 TWh is roughly what the entire country of Thailand uses in a year. Now imagine more than doubling that in six years.
