美国数据中心的电力消耗增长速度约为电网容量扩张速度的十倍，这意味着这些设施可能很快需要从其他来源寻找其所需电力的很大一部分。对人工智能基础设施需求的激增正推动美国掀起新建服务器农场的浪潮，但这也暴露了电网网络长期投资不足的问题，导致无法将电力输送到需要的地方。
Datacenter power consumption in the US is growing roughly ten times faster than grid capacity, meaning facilities may soon need to find a large chunk of their own electricity from other sources. Surging demand for AI infrastructure is driving a wave of new server farms across America, but it is exposing long-term underinvestment in the grid networks required to deliver power where it's needed.
保险经纪商豪登（Howden）测算，到2030年，数据中心仅为维持其占电网容量份额不增长，就需要从电网外获取高达58%的电力。市场研究公司Gartner在6月警告称，人工智能数据中心的能耗今年有望增长26%，到本世纪末，电网供应可能无法跟上需求。
Insurance broker Howden calculates that datacenters would need to source up to 58 percent of their power off the grid by 2030 just to keep their share of grid capacity from growing. Gartner warned in June that the energy consumed by AI datacenters is on track to grow 26 percent this year, and grid supply may be unable to keep pace with demand by the end of this decade.
豪登对美国能源信息署（EIA）和标普全球（S&P Global）数据的分析发现，自2000年以来，输送给数据园区的电力年均增长19%，而同期电网容量年均仅扩张2%。数据中心占美国电网容量的份额在2025年约为5%，高于2000年的0.1%——增长了50倍。
Howden's analysis of data from the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) and S&P Global found that since the year 2000, power being fed to data campuses has risen 19 percent a year on average, while the electricity grid expanded capacity by just 2 percent per annum over the same period. Datacenters' share of US grid capacity was circa five percent in 2025, up from 0.1 percent in 2000 – a 50-fold increase.
管理咨询公司贝恩（Bain & Company）两年前发布报告警告称，能源公司必须转变思路，加快电网容量建设投资，因为服务器农场的用电量预计到2030年将翻一番多。
Management consultancy Bain & Company issued a report two years ago warning that energy companies must switch gear and invest in building out grid capacity faster, as energy draw by server farms is expected to more than double by 2030.
这并不意味着数据中心有吞噬美国所有电力的危险，至少在可预见的未来不会。图表显示两条线似乎即将相交，但该图使用了不同的刻度：左轴电网容量为1400吉瓦，右轴数据中心仅为80吉瓦。豪登估计，要将数据中心维持在电网容量的5%，到2030年需要110吉瓦的“表后”发电容量——该公司认为这种扩张不太可能实现。
This doesn't mean that datacenters are in danger of eating all of America's electricity, at least not in the immediate future. The graph makes it appear that the two lines are about to cross, but the chart uses different scales: 1,400 gigawatts on the left axis for grid capacity, versus just 80 on the right for datacenters. Keeping datacenters at five percent of grid capacity requires 110 gigawatts of behind-the-meter capacity by 2030, Howden estimates – an expansion it considers unlikely.
相反，它预计将出现几种情况并存：更依赖电网、在电力受限的场址放慢开发速度，以及采用替代供电来源。对于规模最大、电力受限最严重的项目，豪登警告称，电网延迟两到六年可能意味着8亿至24亿美元的收入损失。豪登自然资源主管斯图尔特·亚当表示：“电力供应正成为数据中心热潮的决定性挑战之一。随着对AI基础设施的需求加速，开发商越来越多地寻求传统电网连接之外的途径来获取所需电力。”
Instead, it expects a combination of greater reliance on the grid, slower development at power-constrained sites, and alternative supplies. For the largest, most power-constrained projects, Howden warns that grid delays of two to six years could mean $800 million to $2.4 billion in forgone revenue. "Power availability is becoming one of the defining challenges of the datacenter boom," says Howden head of Natural Resources Stuart Adam.
豪登的业务是保险，因此亚当还指出，现场发电会带来新的运营和财务风险，因为运营商要对自己的电力基础设施承担更大责任。®
"As demand for AI infrastructure accelerates, developers are increasingly looking beyond traditional grid connections to secure the electricity they need." Howden's business is insurance, and so Adam also notes that on-site generation introduces new operational and financial exposures, as operators take greater responsibility for their power infrastructure. ®