In the accelerating race to build artificial intelligence infrastructure the constraint is no longer capital. It is electricity.

Across North America, power has become the defining variable in data center development. In many major markets developers may secure allocations on paper, but delivery timelines stretch to 2028 and beyond. Interconnection queues grow longer. Transformer procurement can take years. Substation expansions require regulatory review and coordinated investment.

The grid moves deliberately. AI does not.

A Market Running Ahead of Supply

The market data makes clear just how tight conditions have become.

According to JLL, the North America data center sector has reached an inflection point. Vacancy is locked at a record-low 1 percent for the second consecutive year.

In practical terms, that figure signals a market with virtually no buffer. There is no meaningful excess capacity waiting on the sidelines. No cushion to absorb sudden spikes in demand. The industry is expanding at historic levels yet it remains effectively full.

This is not a temporary fluctuation. It reflects sustained, structural demand driven by cloud computing, enterprise digital transformation and, increasingly, artificial intelligence.

At the same time, JLL reports that 64 percent of the 35-gigawatt construction pipeline now extends beyond traditional mature markets, underscoring how developers are being forced to look outward in search of deliverable megawatts.

Even with that geographic expansion, available capacity remains limited to small, fragmented blocks, offering little flexibility for hyperscalers or AI deployments that require large, contiguous power allocations.

Most tenants securing space today are contracting for deliveries in 2027 or 2028.  Further evidence that forwards demand is deep and durable.

The AI Effect on Infrastructure

The scale of infrastructure required to support AI is unprecedented.

High-density GPU clusters demand significant electrical loads and advanced cooling systems. Deployments that once required 5 or 10 megawatts now require multiples of that. Campus-scale planning has become the norm rather than the exception.

At the same time, capital spending among leading technology companies continues to rise sharply, with hundreds of billions of dollars allocated toward AI chips, servers and data center expansion. Demand is not the issue. Deliverable power is.

Electric grids were not designed to accommodate exponential spikes in concentrated industrial load on short notice. Transmission upgrades, generation capacity and substation builds require multi-year planning cycles. The physical infrastructure that supports digital growth cannot be scaled at the same velocity as software innovation.

Pre-Leasing as a Market Signal

When tenants are signing contracts two to three years ahead of occupancy, it reflects more than optimism. It reflects caution.

The JLL data shows a market operating in forward-commitment mode. Companies are securing capacity early to avoid being pushed further down increasingly crowded interconnection timelines.

The statistic speaks clearly: inventory that can be delivered in the near term is scarce.

Power certainty has become a deciding factor. In this constrained environment, confirmed delivery timelines carry outsized importance.

NJFX’s carrier neutral connectivity hub has secured 10 megawatts of additional power with delivery scheduled by the end of this year. The allocation is backed by a formal load letter from its utility partner, confirming energization within a defined timeframe.

A load letter signals committed capacity and scheduled delivery. Not a projection tied to future grid upgrades, but power aligned with near-term availability. In a market where some projects face energization dates extending to 2028 or later, confirmation within the current year provides clarity for organizations planning AI and high-density deployments.

A New Definition of Readiness

For years, readiness in the data center industry meant shovel-ready land, proximity to fiber and access to tax incentives.

Today, readiness is measured differently.

It is defined by confirmed megawatts, documented delivery schedules and infrastructure aligned with grid reality. It is the difference between theoretical capacity and energized capacity. Between long-term projections and near-term execution.

In a market where most new deployments are contracted years ahead and available inventory is fragmented, the facilities positioned to support the next phase of AI growth will not simply be those under construction.

They will be those that can turn on the power — on time.

In this environment, megawatts are not just a utility metric. They are the new currency of digital infrastructure.