Artificial intelligence is moving at Silicon Valley speed, but the power grid that feeds it still operates at utility speed. For hyperscalers, the ultimate competitive bottleneck is no longer compute power — it is actual power. Load projections, which vary regionally, are outpacing new capacity additions, putting pressure on data centers to find power. Combined with concerns about data centers’ impact on consumer power prices, hyperscalers and other large industrial players are looking at creative solutions to power their operations. For infrastructure investors, that shift is creating a growing opportunity in behind-the-meter generation — but not every project will offer the same risk-adjusted economics.
The speed with which large loads have come online in the past five years has put an unprecedented strain on the grid. Data center electricity usage more than tripled from 2014 to 2023, according to the U.S. Department of Energy, with estimates suggesting it could nearl
