Americans are rallying against data centers. Surprisingly few are actually getting built
AI Data Center Boom Faces Reality Check Despite Public Backlash
Goldlaner.com – While politicians campaign against artificial intelligence facilities and voters express strong reservations, the actual construction of these massive computing hubs is proceeding at a surprisingly measured pace. The perception that AI data centers are sprouting up overnight across the nation doesn’t match the ground-level reality of supply chain bottlenecks, labor gaps, and power grid constraints.
The Construction Timeline Problem
Building data centers has never been a quick process. Historically, only about 72 percent of scheduled capacity reaches completion on time. The situation is even more challenging for AI-specific facilities. Industry analysts project that merely half of the AI computing capacity slated for activation through 2028 will actually materialize by its target date.
Traditional data center construction requires 18 to 24 months, but completion windows are expanding as complications multiply. This delay pattern persists regardless of local sentiment. Even with $750 billion in AI infrastructure commitments this year alone, projects struggle to break ground. Nearly 60 percent of capacity planned for 2027 hasn’t started building, while 7 percent of active projects have encountered setbacks.
Announced Plans vs. Actual Construction
The scale of planned expansion is enormous. The United States contained 5,427 data centers at year-end, with AI companies announcing intentions to add 3,969 new facilities. However, only 802 of those planned centers are currently being built.
Many of these nearly 4,000 announced projects may never materialize. Real estate experts note that developers routinely file multiple applications across different regions before selecting the most feasible location. This practice inflates announced numbers significantly.
Of the 565 gigawatts of computing power currently planned by AI companies—exceeding ten times today’s capacity—Columbia Business School real estate professor Stijn Van Nieuwerburgh anticipates only 180 gigawatts will actually be constructed over the next decade. Two-thirds of the pipeline remains implausible, he estimates.
Supply Chain Bottlenecks
The overwhelming demand for data center expansion has created severe supply constraints across multiple sectors. Building materials have become difficult to secure as demand surges. Even when construction supplies are available, the chips housed inside these massive structures face their own shortages.
Taiwan’s TSMC manufactures virtually every leading AI chip, including Nvidia’s Blackwell and AMD’s MI300X. This concentration makes the company a critical vulnerability in the global AI supply chain, according to Stanford University’s AI Index report.
Power Grid Strain
AI facilities place enormous demands on electrical infrastructure. Data centers currently consume approximately 8 percent of United States electricity, a figure projected to reach 12 percent by 2028. To address this imbalance, numerous AI companies are constructing their own power generation facilities.
These efforts encounter obstacles as well. Waiting periods for generation step-up transformers have tripled. GE Vernova, the largest natural gas turbine manufacturer, reported that bookings for its power generators doubled to $200 billion across a five-year span. Inflation for transformers and power regulators ranks as the second-highest increase among 47 categories tracked by the Bureau of Labor Statistics in its monthly Producer Price Index.
Labor and Local Opposition
Meeting construction deadlines requires substantial workforce expansion. The United States needs to add 500,000 electricians, 300,000 welders, and 550,000 plumbers to complete proposed data center projects. Recent immigration policy adjustments have complicated recruitment efforts.
Some of our clients are developing 24/7/365, and contractors are moving around all day, but there’s nothing they can do if all the labor is tied up in existing projects.
Public resistance has also intensified. Approximately a dozen states have introduced moratoriums on data center construction, with New York and Texas among the most prominent examples.
Looking Ahead
The projected $10 trillion in investment represents a spending boom 50 percent larger than the nineteenth-century railroad expansion. Yet sand continues accumulating in the AI machinery. The gap between ambition and execution remains wide, shaped by material availability, power infrastructure, workforce capacity, and local political dynamics.
For communities considering hosting these facilities, the decision carries implications extending beyond immediate construction timelines. Energy costs, grid reliability, and long-term economic benefits all factor into whether local opposition translates into permanent barriers or manageable delays.
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