Bloom Energy Report Finds AI Data Center Growth Hinges on Solving Both Power Constraints and Community Concerns

Access to power remains the biggest challenge to growth, with 61% of developers planning to bring their own power if the grid cannot meet their needs.

Bloom Energy (NYSE: BE) has released a mid-year update to its annual Data Center Power Report, which surveys decision-makers across the data center ecosystem. The report found that, while data center developers anticipate a prolonged period of expansion, power availability remains the defining constraint. At the same time, a broader set of barriers—including rising construction costs and growing community scrutiny—is threatening to slow the pace of new data center development.

Key Findings

• Developers are planning significant capacity additions through the end of the decade as AI adoption accelerates. Inference now accounts for more than 50% of AI compute, reflecting the transition from model building to real-world applications, with inference driving sustained demand for new data center capacity.
• Access to power remains the dominant issue for data center development, with 61% of developers planning to bring their own power if the grid is unavailable.
• New barriers are affecting the buildout of large-scale projects, impacting the pace of execution: Community scrutiny has intensified over the past six months, with developers citing higher electricity prices, increased water consumption, and strain on grid reliability as the concerns most likely to influence projects. As of May 2026, at least 18 state bills and 86 local moratoriums have been proposed across the U.S.
• Carbon capture is moving from concept to deployment: Nearly one-third of onsite-powered sites are expected to incorporate carbon capture by 2030, reflecting growing pressure to address emissions concerns while expanding power capacity.
• A readiness gap risks slowing AI innovation: Chip developers expect high-density architectures and rack-level DC designs to be adopted in 2028, a full year ahead of data center developers’ plans, highlighting a growing readiness challenge as AI hardware requirements evolve.

The 2026 Bloom Energy Data Center Power Report Mid-Year Pulse is based on surveys commissioned via a double-blind process between Bloom Energy and respondents. Surveys were conducted in April 2026 among 156 decision-makers across the data center ecosystem, reflecting perspectives from hyperscalers, colocation providers, neoclouds, data center developers, chip developers, with 79% of respondents US-based. The survey was supplemented with interviews with industry leaders and public announcements.

Key Quote

“Access to power remains the biggest constraint to data center growth, but it is not the only issue. Community concerns are increasingly shaping which projects move forward,” said Natalie Sunderland, Chief Marketing Officer at Bloom Energy. “Our findings suggest that solutions that reduce strain on local infrastructure while helping developers bring new capacity online faster—such as clean onsite power—will play an important role. We believe the winners in the next phase of AI buildout will be those that can grow in a way that works for both operators and the communities that host them.”

Key Link

Download a copy of the 2026 Data Center Power Report: Mid-Year Pulse from Bloom Energy

More information about data center solutions from from Bloom Energy