The 70 Gigawatt Hole: Wall Street Maps How Far America's Electric Grid Is Falling Behind AI Demand

On paper, America's power grid just had one of its best months in a decade.

According to the latest EIA data crunched by Goldman's utilities team in its US Power Pipeline report (available to pro subs), US generating capacity rose by a net 5.6 GW in September, the strongest September in at least 10 years and almost 4x the 1.5 GW historical average. And yet, in the same week, Morgan Stanley's Stephen Byrd calculated that US data center developers face a power shortfall of 70 gigawatts through 2028, before counting every turbine, fuel cell and converted bitcoin mine that can be thrown at the problem. After counting them, the gap is still 43 GW, or 38% of all the power AI developers need.