Morgan Stanley sees 70GW US data center power shortfall by 2028

On November 2, 2026, Morgan Stanley analyst Stephen Byrd published an estimate that US data center developers are facing a power gap of up to 70GW by 2028. According to the analysis, even if all potential solutions are exhausted — including nuclear power, fuel cells, and shifting some demand to Asia — the net power gap still reaches 43GW, a figure that has more than doubled in just one year.

The mismatch between supply and demand is reshaping market pricing and capital flows. Equipment vendors that can deliver on time to power commands significant premiums, with prices for core equipment such as gas turbines having already doubled. Meanwhile, as power costs rise and public opposition to new data center construction grows across the United States, several state governments have begun freezing project approvals. Credit markets are also turning more selective in their appetite for AI-related debt, as investors increasingly worry that some large-scale data center build-outs could ultimately be delayed or cancelled.