S&P Global Market Intelligence projects US data center power demand will grow 22% in 2025 and nearly triple from 2024 baseline levels by 2030, driven by the deployment of large language model training infrastructure, AI inference servers, and cloud computing expansion tied to enterprise AI adoption. The scale of projected demand growth has no comparable historical precedent in the US electric utility sector.

In the Southeast, which has emerged as one of the fastest-growing data center markets in the US due to economic incentives, available land, and growing fiber connectivity, power demand projections are outpacing those of traditional data center hubs. South Carolina, Georgia, North Carolina, and Tennessee each have multiple gigawatt-scale data center campus projects in various stages of development. Duke Energy, Dominion Energy, and Southern Company are collectively investing tens of billions of dollars in generation capacity and transmission upgrades to serve anticipated load, but analysts note the timeline between investment approval and grid delivery creates a near-term reliability gap.

The utility industry is also navigating a shift in how data centers source power. Rather than relying entirely on traditional utility rate structures, hyperscalers are increasingly contracting directly for nuclear and renewable capacity through long-term power purchase agreements, effectively removing large blocks of clean generation from the public grid and reserving them for private use. This has created tension with regulators and consumer advocates in states where ratepayers bear the cost of transmission upgrades that primarily benefit large corporate customers.

Source: S&P Global -- https://www.spglobal.com/energy/en/news-research/latest-news/electric-power/101425-data-center-grid-power-demand-to-rise-22-in-2025-nearly-triple-by-2030