AI Server Power Surge: Why Grid Delivery Bottlenecks Will Constraint US Data Centers from 2028

TrendForce estimates global data center electricity demand will reach 161GW by 2026, a 31% annual increase driven primarily by AI servers, with AI servers' share of that demand rising from 25% in 2025 to 33.4% in 2026 and potentially exceeding 40% by 2027. The research firm says the surge, combined with slow grid growth, will create a significant power supply deficit, and that grid delivery delays will become a major constraint from 2028, particularly in the US, even as behind-the-meter generation by data center operators mitigates some of the shortfall.

AI Server Power Surge: Why Grid Delivery Bottlenecks Will Constraint US Data Centers from 2028 TrendForce estimates global data center electricity demand will reach 161GW by 2026, a 31% annual increase, driven primarily by AI servers. AsiaAI Publisher · September 16, 2026 · 2 min read · Source: 科技新報 TechNews · Issue 98 East Asian Technology Intelligence Japan & China tech news — translated, contextualized, and delivered for Western readers. Free. Unsubscribe anytime. This story ran in Issue 98, alongside three other stories. Enterprise & Cloud 📊 Featured Chart Source: TrendForce. 2026-2030 projections. TrendForce estimates global data center electricity demand will reach 161GW by 2026, a 31% annual increase, driven primarily by AI servers. The proportion of AI servers in total data center electricity demand is expected to rise from 25% in 2025 to 33.4% in 2026, potentially exceeding 40% by 2027. This surge in demand, coupled with slow grid growth, will create a significant power supply deficit. While ‘behind-the-meter’ generation by data center operators can mitigate some of this, grid delivery delays will become a major constraint from 2028, particularly in the US.