Overview
- BloombergNEF now projects U.S. data centers will draw 106 gigawatts by 2035, a 36% jump from its April outlook and roughly 2.7 times today’s ~40 gigawatts.
- The revision reflects more than 140 newly announced projects and average seven‑year build timelines that push today’s plans into the next decade.
- Planned facilities are far larger, with average new sites exceeding 100 megawatts, nearly a quarter topping 500 megawatts, and a few surpassing 1 gigawatt as utilization rises toward 69%.
- Much of the new load clusters in PJM states and Texas’s ERCOT, while PJM’s independent monitor asked FERC to affirm PJM’s authority to make large new loads wait and to create a load queue, arguing data centers are driving higher prices.
- Policy responses are emerging, including Virginia’s new GS‑5 rate class for 25‑megawatt‑plus customers starting January 2027 with minimum demand charges, as utilities tout large customer contributions to fixed costs and advocates press to shield residential bills.