AI Data Centers: The Power Crisis Reshaping Electrical Infrastructure

The Scale of AI Power Demand

According to Goldman Sachs Research, global data center power usage currently stands at approximately 55 gigawatts (GW), with AI workloads representing 14% of this total. However, AI's share is growing rapidly. By 2026, U.S. data center demand is projected to reach 75.8 GW for IT equipment, cooling, and infrastructure—with further expansion to 108 GW by 2028 and 134.4 GW by 2030.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) reports that servers account for approximately 60% of electricity demand in modern data centers, with cooling systems consuming much of the remainder. AI workloads are particularly power-intensive—training large language models requires massive computational resources running continuously for weeks or months.

From Megawatts to Gigawatts: A Fundamental Shift

The data center industry is undergoing a fundamental transformation in scale. Just 10% of existing data centers exceed 50 megawatts of capacity, yet most facilities currently in development are designed for 100 MW or more. A handful of gigawatt-scale sites—equivalent to nuclear power plants—are coming online in the next few years.

By the end of 2026, the most competitive AI campuses will function less like traditional data center loads and more like integrated energy assets, with dedicated microgrids, dispatch rights, and explicit carbon performance targets. This evolution demands new approaches to power distribution design, voltage drop management, and infrastructure planning.

Grid Infrastructure Challenges

The rapid growth in data center demand is straining electrical grid infrastructure across the country. A Deloitte survey of power company and data center executives identified grid stress as the leading challenge for data center infrastructure development. In some regions, requests for grid connection now face seven-year wait times—far longer than typical data center construction timelines.

This grid capacity crunch is driving significant changes in how data centers approach power:

• On-Site Generation: Approximately 30% of data center sites are projected to use some form of on-site power as a primary energy source by 2030, including natural gas turbines, fuel cells, and small modular nuclear reactors.
• Nuclear Partnerships: Energy-sector reporting shows utilities and advanced nuclear developers signing framework agreements for data center loads, with several proposed SMR (small modular reactor) projects marketed explicitly for "AI-ready" baseload power.
• Microgrid Integration: Data centers are increasingly designed with integrated microgrid capabilities, enabling islanding, load management, and coordination with utility grid requirements.

Consumer Cost Implications

The surge in data center power demand is beginning to impact electricity costs for residential and commercial customers. In the PJM electricity market stretching from Illinois to North Carolina, data centers accounted for an estimated $9.3 billion price increase in the 2025-26 capacity market.

These cost increases create both challenges and opportunities. Higher electricity prices increase the economic value of energy efficiency improvements, including proper voltage drop management that minimizes distribution losses.

Voltage Drop Considerations for AI Infrastructure

Data centers have always had stringent voltage drop requirements—typically targeting less than 2% total from utility service to server rack. AI workloads amplify these requirements because:

• Higher Power Density: AI server racks can draw 40-100 kW each, compared to 5-15 kW for traditional servers. Higher current means voltage drop becomes the controlling design factor for more circuits.
• Continuous Full Load: AI training workloads run at near-maximum capacity for extended periods, unlike traditional computing with variable loads. Voltage drop at full load becomes the permanent operating condition.
• Efficiency at Scale: At multi-megawatt scale, even 0.1% improvement in distribution efficiency translates to significant energy and cost savings.

Opportunities for Electrical Professionals

The AI data center boom creates substantial opportunities for electrical contractors, engineers, and designers who can deliver the specialized infrastructure these facilities require. Key growth areas include:

Design Your Critical Power System

Our voltage drop calculator supports the precision required for data center power distribution design, including parallel conductor configurations and temperature-adjusted calculations.