The US data center building boom is putting the sustainability ambitions of power-hungry hyperscalers to the test, with capital expenditures climbing, natural gas deals proliferating and demand for electricity outpacing even some of the most bullish forecasts.
‘AI has completely changed the game’
Chris Taylor, CEO of battery storage developer GridStor LLC, is particularly upbeat on the ability of batteries to smooth AI training loads.
“That’s going to be a whole business,” Taylor said in a recent interview. “Just that piece right there is a multibillion-dollar opportunity.”
GridStor, which is backed by Goldman Sachs Asset Management LP, is focused on developing battery storage projects in the Western US, including in top 10 data center power demand markets Arizona, California and Oregon.
“AI has completely changed the game,” said Taylor, who previously led clean energy investing for Google’s global data center business.
GridStor is pursuing both behind-the-meter and front-of-meter deals with hyperscalers, data center leasing companies and utilities.
Those opportunities are significant even if bullish data center power demand estimates, such as 451 Research’s, do not materialize, according to Taylor.
“I’ll take the under on the estimate,” the executive said. “Take the rock bottom, low-end of the estimate and it’s still a shockingly large number.”
With data center operators emerging as a core clientele, Taylor is concerned that the “generalized bipartisan opposition” to digital infrastructure expansion could disrupt the battery storage industry.
But more than just the battery industry could be at risk unless US data center developers find sustainable paths forward.
“I don’t think people have fully come to grips with what that would do to our economy if we stop letting data centers expand,” Taylor said. “If that gets shut off, it’s going somewhere else.”
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