Morgan Stanley estimates that the additional power demand from US data centers between 2026 and 2029 will be approximately 160 gigawatts (GW), while existing project construction, available grid capacity, and on-site power generation solutions will total approximately 83.6 GW, leaving a shortfall of about 76.5 GW, equivalent to nearly 48% of the projected demand.
Of this, projects already under construction and ready for grid connection can cover 21.8 GW, available grid capacity is 36.2 GW, purchased on-site power generation equipment is 22.8 GW, and nuclear power plant site power supply solutions contribute 2.8 GW on a probability-weighted basis.
Based on this, the bank estimates that the unmet demand from data centers, combined with new commercial and industrial electricity consumption, amounts to approximately 120 GW, potentially creating a $240 billion market for off-meter power equipment. Gas turbines, fuel cells, transformers, and power distribution equipment are expected to benefit from this bottleneck, but the actual realization of demand still depends on equipment delivery, project construction, and power grid connection progress.
