Key facts
- Goldman Sachs sees US data center growth outlook through 2027 remaining largely intact.
- The firm raised its 2026 year-end US data center capacity forecast by 5 GW to 64 GW.
- Goldman Sachs reduced its 2027 year-end forecast by 5 GW to 90 GW.
- US data center power demand is forecast to grow 38% or 12 GW in 2026.
- US data center power demand is forecast to grow 38% or 17 GW in 2027.
- A June Reuters/Ipsos poll showed only a third of Americans approve of the pace of data-center construction in the US.
Rising political opposition to US data centers has had a limited near-term impact on their rapid expansion, according to Goldman Sachs. The firm maintained its growth outlook through 2027, stating that "While US data center development faces increasing political and community opposition, project data and our updated capacity estimates suggest that the US data center growth outlook through 2027 remains largely unchanged."
Goldman Sachs raised its 2026 year-end US data center capacity forecast by 5 gigawatts (GW) to 64 GW, while reducing its 2027 year-end forecast by 5 GW to 90 GW. The brokerage also forecast US data center power demand to grow 38%, or 12 GW, in 2026 and 38%, or 17 GW, in 2027.
Data centers, which provide computing power for AI models, have faced opposition due to concerns about electricity demand, utility costs, and other local impacts. Public sentiment has also turned more negative, with only a third of Americans approving of the pace of data-center construction in the US, according to a June Reuters/Ipsos poll. The poll also showed that only 14% of respondents would support a data center being built in their community to support artificial intelligence projects for technology firms such as Meta, Alphabet, Amazon, Microsoft, and Elon Musk's xAI.