US utilities leave 120 TWh of data center demand uncovered

The resource plans through 2035 of vertically integrated US utilities leave one quarter of the electricity that data centers with signed contracts will require without planned supply, roughly 120 TWh annually, according to the first analysis from Latitude Intelligence published on November 10, 2026. Proposed carbon-free generation projects would cover about 30% of that demand.

Latitude Intelligence, the research unit of Latitude Media, reviewed the plans of utilities that build their own generation and counted as signed load only executed agreements to take electricity. By that standard, Dominion Energy reports 54.9 GW of contracted capacity in Virginia, but only 12.2 GW are under service agreements; AEP Ohio adds up to 26.9 GW. In Georgia, Georgia Power has 12.8 GW signed out of an 80.1 GW portfolio. The pattern matters for Mexico: Obras Expansión reported on November 9 that 56% of developers see access to electricity as a major obstacle and 53% face connections of one to two years. Mexican industry totals around 0.28 GW installed, according to the Asociación Mexicana de Data Centers cited by Obras Expansión.

The report quantifies the gap. It estimates that the 69 GW of gas planned or under construction covers about 45% of the electricity those data centers will need, if they consume 65% of their contracted capacity; all proposed carbon-free projects, across solar, wind, nuclear, geothermal and hydropower, cover about 30%. If only those approved by regulators count, that share drops to 15% and the gap rises to 40%. Closing the gap requires between 40 and 60 GW of new wind or solar, or between 60 and 90 GW if only approved projects are built. Canary Media reported on November 11 that Georgia's regulator approved nearly 10 GW of gas and batteries in December 2025, with an estimated cost of 50,000 to 60,000 million dollars over their useful life.

PJM expects to present rules this month for data centers that bring their own generation; Nevada and North Carolina will issue final orders on resource plans before the year ends. In Mexico, 32% of respondents report waits of more than 24 months to connect, according to Obras Expansión.

This article was drafted with the assistance of artificial intelligence from verified sources and reviewed by a human editor before publication.