The appetite for AI compute is rewriting the rules of American energy infrastructure. Bloom Energy’s 2026 Data Center Power Report projects that AI data center capacity will nearly double its share of new additions, climbing from 13% in 2026 to 23% by 2030.
That trajectory matters because US data center operators are expected to add 55 gigawatts of IT capacity over the next five years. The current installed base sits at roughly 25 GW.
The grid can’t keep up
Power availability has become the single most important factor in deciding where to build a data center. According to Bloom Energy’s survey, 84% of data center operators now cite it as their top site selection criterion.
That bottleneck is forcing a dramatic pivot. Projections for onsite power generation have exploded year over year. By 2030, between 27% and 38% of data center facilities are expected to rely on onsite power to meet their primary energy needs. For context, the previous year’s survey pegged that figure at just 13%.
