AI Boom Strains U.S. Power Grid as Hyperscalers Bypass Utilities

IndustryCommodity Impact 4
โดย Oilprice.com·Read original
Summary · why it matters

The U.S. power grid is failing to meet surging AI-driven electricity demand, forcing major tech companies to secure their own power through nuclear deals and bypass traditional utilities. Microsoft signed a 20-year deal to restart the Three Mile Island nuclear plant, Amazon paid $650 million for a data center co-located with the Susquehanna nuclear station, Google inked agreements for small modular reactors, and Meta issued a request for proposals seeking up to 4 gigawatts of new nuclear capacity. Berkeley Lab found that over 70% of grid interconnection requests are withdrawn because the grid cannot accommodate them, and investor Kevin O'Leary estimates half of planned U.S. data centers will never be built. Meanwhile, Bitzero Holdings, a Canadian-listed Bitcoin miner with infrastructure in Norway, signed a binding letter for a 15-year, $2.6 billion lease with OneQode for its 110-megawatt site in Namsskogan, Norway, highlighting the value of pre-secured power capacity outside the strained U.S. grid.

Impact on stocks 11

Artificial Intelligence▲ · 6 stocks
Microsoft Corporation
MSFT
▲ PositiveDemandrelevance

Microsoft's 20-year deal to restart Three Mile Island nuclear plant secures dedicated power for AI data centers, addressing AI-driven demand.

Amazon.com Inc
AMZN
▲ PositiveDemandrelevance

Amazon's $650M data center co-located with nuclear station secures power for AI workloads, benefiting from AI-driven electricity demand.

Alphabet Inc Class C
GOOG
▲ PositiveDemandrelevance

Google's agreements for small modular reactors secure power for AI data centers, supporting its AI expansion.

Meta Platforms Inc.
META
▲ PositiveDemandrelevance

Meta's RFP for up to 4 GW of new nuclear capacity secures power for AI data centers, supporting its AI growth.

Digital Finance & Tokenization▲ · 3 stocks
Information Technology▲ · 1 stocks
Energy Transition & Power Demand▲ · 1 stocks

Theme Impact 6

Related news

IREN Fair Value Trimmed to US$79.03 as AI Cloud Wins Meet Build Out Risks

IREN's fair value estimate has been trimmed from US$80.93 to US$79.03, a modest adjustment reflecting a mix of growing AI cloud contracts and ongoing questions around execution and supply build out through 2027. The revision lifts revenue growth assumptions to 168.01% from 125.79% and net profit margin expectations to 11.73% from 5.79%, while the future P/E assumption drops to 31.26x from 90.29x and the discount rate rises to 9.41% from 8.83%. On the bullish side, JPMorgan shifted IREN from Underweight to Overweight with a US$65 price target, citing a partnership with Nvidia, new customer signings and higher industry pricing, while H.C. Wainwright raised its target to US$90 after IREN announced US$2.8b of new multi year AI cloud contracts and lifted its 2026 AI cloud annual recurring revenue target to more than US$4b. Northland initiated IREN at Outperform with a US$99 price target, and Freedom Capital upgraded the stock from Hold to Buy. Freedom Capital nonetheless flagged execution on supply additions over the next two years as a central risk, noting the story depends heavily on adding capacity on schedule.
IREN ▲JPM ▲
Artificial Intelligence ▲Cloud & Digital Infrastructure
Simply Wall St·9hRead more →
▲impact 4

Nvidia-Backed Nscale Files for US IPO After $1.02 Billion Loss

Nscale, the London-based AI data center developer backed by Nvidia and Microsoft, filed publicly for an initial public offering in New York, seeking to raise as much as $3 billion. The company reported a net loss of $1.02 billion on revenue of $140.6 million for the six months ended June 30, compared with a net loss of $368.9 million on revenue of $10.4 million a year earlier, according to its Friday filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Spun off from a cryptocurrency mining operation in early 2024, Nscale was valued at about $14.6 billion in a March Series C round led by Aker ASA and 8090 Industries, with Nvidia and Nokia Oyj also participating. The company has agreed to add more than 30,000 Nvidia chips to an existing rental agreement with Microsoft at its Narvik, Norway gigafactory, and Anthropic has agreed to spend $45 billion to rent AI cloud computing power from its flagship West Virginia data center development. The offering is being led by Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase and Morgan Stanley, with shares expected to trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol NSCL.
NVDA ▲MSFT ▲GS ▲JPM ▲MS ▲0MJX.LSE
Artificial Intelligence ▲Cloud & Digital Infrastructure
Bloomberg·10hRead more →
▼2impact 4

Goldman Sachs Warns S&P 500 Earnings Growth Set to Cool

Goldman Sachs Group expects the rapid rise in S&P 500 earnings to cool rather than reverse, saying several temporary forces are currently lifting profits. S&P 500 earnings per share rose 51% year over year in the second quarter, with growth over the past four quarters reaching 26%, a pace the firm said has pushed profits above their longer-term trend, though the index's forward price-to-earnings ratio has eased to 19 from 23 a year ago and now matches its 10-year average. Artificial intelligence spending is a major contributor, with Amazon, Meta Platforms, Microsoft and Alphabet expected to spend about $800 billion on capital projects this year, nearly double 2025 levels, and Goldman expects that earnings boost to fade as spending growth slows and depreciation rises. Semiconductor margins and gains from technology companies' investment holdings are also supporting earnings, and Goldman said weaker chip margins could cut S&P 500 earnings by about 10%, while investment gains that helped second-quarter profits are expected to contribute less in 2027.
GS AMZN GOOG META MSFT
Artificial Intelligence ▼Semiconductors ▼
GuruFocus·10hRead more →
© 2026 MarketDXNews