Google data center in Oregon
Image: Lambtron, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
By ESS news
aw firm Foley & Lardner LLP today has its 2026 Data Center Development Reportwith a focus on the growth and challenges in the data center boom that aims to support growth in AI and LLM usage.
A key focus was on energy, with 54% of respondents citing ‘energy availability and redundancy’ as the biggest obstacle to successful data center development between now and 2030.
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When it comes to the right energy mix for data centers, 55% of respondents agree that the ideal energy mix to meet growing data center energy demands consists largely of renewable energy sources (41%), followed by natural gas (17%), nuclear (16%) and BESS (14%).
Nearly half (48%) of industry participants cited advances in energy efficiency (which often includes storage optimization) as the biggest opportunity for development by the end of the decade, and nearly three in four respondents (74%) said advanced energy storage systems such as batteries, hybrid solutions and microgrids are the best way to ensure energy resilience.
Only 14% of developers are actually pursuing modular and small modular nuclear reactors as a viable energy option.
Intriguingly, 63% expect a “strategic correction” in the market by 2030, driven by the fierce power struggle, with an unnamed bank executive saying in the report: “Once the power runs out in 2027 or 2028, we think deal flow there will start to slow.”
105 U.S. respondents were eligible to participate in the survey, including those who had direct experience in data center development, energy procurement, technology delivery, or operations within the past 24 months.
Energy analyst firm Wood Mackenzie has identified data centers as one of five trends to look for in 2026 for global energy storageand in the past week, a battery storage project decided to give up the grid connection with a data center and re-equip the batteries so you can earn income without being connected.
What they said:
Daniel Farris, partner and co-leader of Foley’s data center and digital infrastructure team, said: “There’s a Gold Rush mentality around securing power right now. That’s a big part of why people feel like there’s a bubble,” said “There’s going to be a period in the next two to three years where power at the level necessary will be very difficult to come by.”
Rachel Conrad, senior counsel and co-lead of Foley’s data center and digital infrastructure team, said: “Over the next five to 10 years, energy providers will need to either increase capacity or increase efficiency to meet data center demand.”
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