If there is one thing holding back the digital world right now, it isn't a lack of interest from customers. It’s the simple, exhausting reality that we can't build fast enough. The real bottleneck is physical – we just cannot construct data centers quickly enough to keep up with the massive amount of computer power our modern lives demand.
Looking at our North America Data Center Report from midyear 2026, it is clear that while the market is booming, we are moving into completely uncharted territory.
Our industry is currently grappling with three harsh physical realities:
The unprecedented power requirement: The record 66GW of data center capacity currently under construction in North America represents an electricity requirement greater than the entire nation of Germany – a country of 84 million people and an estimated $4.7 trillion economy.
The migration to frontier markets: To find this massive amount of power, developers have had to look far beyond traditional hubs. Today, 77 percent of all under-construction capacity is located in frontier markets like West Texas, Ohio, Louisiana and the Carolinas. These markets had almost no data center capacity 10 years ago.
