Wall Street brokerage expects rapid power capacity expansion through 2027 as AI infrastructure demand overcomes local political resistance.
Mounting political opposition to data centre development in the United States will have a limited impact on near-term expansion, with the overall growth outlook through 2027 remaining largely intact, according to Goldman Sachs.
In a client note, Goldman revised its 2026 year-end US data centre capacity forecast upward by 5 gigawatts (GW) to 64 GW, while trimming its 2027 projection by 5 GW to 90 GW.
The brokerage projects US data centre power demand to jump 38 per cent in 2026—adding 12 GW—followed by a further 38 per cent surge, or 17 GW, in 2027.
Assessing the policy landscape, Goldman Sachs stated: “While US data center development faces increasing political and community opposition, project data and our updated capacity estimates suggest that the US data center growth outlook through 2027 remains largely unchanged.”
Data centres—which supply the core computing infrastructure required to train and run artificial intelligence models—face growing friction across local communities over grid strain, surging electricity bills, and regional environmental impacts.
A June Reuters/Ipsos poll revealed that only a third of Americans approve of the current pace of data centre construction, while just 14 per cent of respondents support local facility builds intended to serve hyperscalers like Meta, Alphabet, Amazon, Microsoft, and xAI.
Acknowledging the shifting public mood, Goldman added: “Public sentiment has also turned more negative.”
This widespread local backlash presents an intensifying political challenge for lawmakers heading into the upcoming US midterm elections on 3 November.
