The US data centre industry is experiencing a massive wave of growth. But a huge barrier threatens to bring it crashing down: the limited availability of reliable, resilient electric power in the volumes and at the speed that data centres require.
Ageing utility infrastructure, sluggish transmission upgrades, and regulatory complexities have converged to make electric power the sector’s most pressing challenge.
In its 2025 Data Centre Power Report, Bloom Energy outlines how forward-thinking data centre leaders are devising new strategies and partnerships to overcome these barriers, accelerate the deployment of new facilities, and maintain revenue growth.
Surging demand meets grid limitations
Data centres are now the primary driver of new electricity demand in the US. After two decades of relatively flat growth, national electricity demand is forecast to rise by 83 terawatt-hours in 2025—equivalent to powering over 7.7 million additional homes. By 2030, data centres could account for 8–12% of total US electricity consumption, up from 3–4% today.
However, the power grid has not kept pace with this growth. While utilities may be capable of generating the electricity data centres need, the infrastructure to transmit that power remains a critical bottleneck. Congested transmission lines, coupled with needed interconnection processes, are delaying project timelines and inflating costs.
At current development rates, some estimates suggest it could take up to 80 years to deliver the grid upgrades needed over the next decade.
The rise of onsite power solutions
In response, data centre operators are increasingly turning to onsite power generation. These decentralised solutions—ranging from fuel cells and gas turbines to solar and battery systems—put power generation in the same location as the data centres themselves. They offer faster deployment, greater reliability, and reduced dependence on overburdened grids.
Bloom Energy’s Power Report shows a marked shift in industry sentiment: by 2030, 30% of data centre sites are expected to use onsite power as a primary energy source—more than double the estimate from just seven months earlier.
In fact, 2024 saw more announcements featuring onsite power than the previous four years combined.
The key driver? Time to power—the ability to bring data centres online more rapidly—has become a decisive factor. In fast-moving sectors like AI, where first-mover advantage can be critical, early access to power is not just an operational benefit but a strategic imperative. Lacking access to power means being unable to develop the next generation of large language models, which results in losing ground to competitors — and losing revenue.
Looking ahead: A paradigm shift in 2025
According to Bloom Energy, 2025 will mark a pivotal moment in data centre power strategy.
Technologies like fuel cells are already gaining traction due to their ability to be deployed rapidly (in months instead of years) and their environmentally friendly performance. Onsite fuel cells are available today in capacities ranging up to hundreds of megawatts or even gigawatts, using natural gas. Since gas line infrastructure deployment is significantly faster than for electrical transmission lines, this contributes to fuel cells’ time-to-power advantage.
Meanwhile, interest is growing in long-term solutions such as small modular reactors and geothermal power, which may become viable beyond 2030.
In the face of power grid bottlenecks, data centre operators are not standing still. They are forging new strategies, adopting emerging technologies, and embracing a more decentralised approach to power generation.
The result is not just resilience in the face of constraint, but a new era of opportunity for those agile enough to seize it.
Watch the Capacity webinar Powering AI at Scale: Key Deployment Strategies for Modern Data Centres on-demand now.
In this webinar, you’ll hear how innovative onsite power solutions are reshaping the data centre power architecture landscape and how energy-buying decisions are evolving beyond cost considerations.
Patrizio Prunecchi, EMEA Lead at Bloom Energy, and Alessandro Viviani, Associate Partner, The European House, Ambrosetti, covered:
How data centres are optimising onsite power strategies for faster deployment
Decision-making criteria for choosing onsite power solutions
How to balance clean energy and cost considerations
