Data Center Bytes

Professional investors eyeing data center opportunities may want to consider adaptive reuse of vacant real estate assets. A recent Chicago transaction demonstrates how power provisioning and strategic repositioning can unlock value in underutilized properties, particularly as demand for data center facilities expands.

The proliferation of artificial intelligence (AI) data centers and other high-demand facilities is imposing significant new energy and infrastructure demands on the electric grid. This rapid pace of development is testing the limits of legacy regulatory rules, forcing policymakers and industry participants to consider a patchwork of solutions, ranging from new tariff designs to special contracts. There is also growing concern in some corners of the industry over rate hikes, resource adequacy, and reliability.

Join us for the next chapter in Morgan Lewis’s Data Center Bytes webinar series Navigating the Capacity Race. This upcoming series dives into the big opportunities and pressing challenges shaping the fast-moving data center world.

The explosive growth of artificial intelligence has fueled a surge in data center projects across the United States, with industry forecasts projecting $475 billion in spending for 2025 alone and trillions more over the next decade. Recent federal initiatives, including streamlined permitting and funding through the administration’s AI Action Plan, are expected to accelerate this trend.

At the 2025 “Choose France” summit, several major data center projects were announced, underscoring the country’s growing appeal for digital infrastructure investment. Backed by a national push for artificial intelligence development and access to low-cost, carbon-free electricity, France offers strong fundamentals for data center operators. Companies entering this growing market must navigate environmental, energy, and urban planning laws and regulations.

The growing interest in generative artificial intelligence (AI) has triggered a race to develop the technology, driving demand for high-density data centers and significantly increasing predicted electricity consumption. Research from the US Energy Information Administration and Goldman Sachs indicates domestic and global record-high energy demand is quickly approaching.