Data Center Demand Surges Even As New Construction Slows
Techstrong.IT, Wednesday, March 4th, 2026
The US data center market delivered a record year in 2025, driven largely by AI and hyperscale cloud expansion. Yet even as demand reached unprecedented levels, new construction slowed for the first time in several years, highlighting growing challenges across the country.
According to a new report from CBRE, North American Data Center Trends H2 2025, the amount of new data center capacity under construction in primary US markets fell to roughly 5.9 gigawatts at the end of 2025, down from about 6.3 gigawatts the previous year.
That modest downshift was the first annual decline in development activity since 2020, reflecting mounting challenges in securing permits, zoning approvals, and sufficient electrical power for large data facilities.