Beyond the Megawatts: Delivery Certainty in the Next Phase of US Data Center Growth

By Alexander Mackenzie MRICS, Director

For several years, much of the data center conversation has focused on scale: how many megawatts can be secured, where the power will come from and how quickly new capacity can be developed.

One theme that stood out to me at Yotta 2026 in Las Vegas was that power remains one of the industry's biggest challenges. Grid constraints, generation and the growing interest in behind-the-meter solutions were all prominent parts of the discussion.

But alongside the power challenge is another question:

Can the industry actually deliver the infrastructure needed to turn those megawatts into operational capacity at the pace being planned?

Having worked across power and major energy infrastructure, and now in data center delivery, I see these as interconnected challenges rather than competing ones.

It starts before construction

Even securing the right land is becoming more complex.

In some of the most competitive markets, developers are assembling sites across multiple parcels, sometimes at significant premiums to traditional land values

It demonstrates the value now attached to locations that can combine land, power, connectivity and the ability to develop at scale. It also means land acquisition, permitting and engagement with local communities increasingly need to begin earlier in the development process.

And securing the site and power is only the beginning.

A campus still needs equipment to arrive, contractors to mobilize, specialist labor to be available, systems to be energized and commissioning teams to test and integrate increasingly complex infrastructure.

As the industry moves from megawatt projects toward gigawatt-scale campuses, the challenge is increasingly about aligning all of these elements.

The specialist workforce challenge

The scale of planned development will require a significant increase in construction resources. But the challenge isn't simply the number of people available. It is having the right experience, in the right location, at the right point in the program.

Electrical and mechanical trades, controls engineers, field supervision, project controls resources and commissioning specialists are all in demand.

Commissioning deserves particular attention. Building the facility is only part of the journey. Complex electrical, mechanical and controls systems need to be tested, integrated and safely brought online before the MW becomes operational.

This becomes even more challenging as development expands into markets without an established data center workforce.

A location may offer attractive land and a viable power solution, but that doesn't automatically mean the specialist labor required to deliver multiple facilities is locally available.

That quickly becomes both a cost and schedule issue. The question therefore isn't simply “What does the labor cost?” Increasingly, it is also “Can we secure the right people when the program actually needs them?”

Procurement becomes a program decision

The same challenge applies to equipment.

Transformers, switchgear, generators, cooling equipment and other long-lead infrastructure cannot simply be treated as packages to procure once the design is complete.

On some programs, critical equipment is being reserved or ordered during the early stages of design to protect manufacturing slots and meet required energization dates. That changes the traditional sequence of design, procurement and construction and requires earlier decisions around equipment specifications, suppliers and commercial commitments.

Owners therefore need visibility into manufacturing capacity and lead times much earlier.

That may mean capacity reservations, earlier commitments, strategic supplier relationships, greater standardization and increased use of prefabrication and off-site manufacturing.

There is a commercial balance. Commit too early and equipment may be ordered while the design is still developing, creating potential change and interface risk. Commit too late and the required manufacturing slot may no longer align with the program.

This is why procurement increasingly needs to be treated as a program-level decision rather than simply a purchasing exercise.

Power and equipment availability also need to be considered together. Having power available doesn't help if the equipment required to use it arrives six months later. Equally, equipment sitting on site provides little benefit if energization has been delayed.

The schedule needs to connect everything

This is where I believe there is a significant opportunity to improve delivery certainty.

Land, power, procurement, construction and commissioning cannot operate as separate programs and schedules.

A power availability date needs to connect directly to equipment manufacturing and delivery, construction completion, energization, commissioning, integrated systems testing and ultimately operational readiness.

At gigawatt campus scale, this becomes a program-level challenge rather than simply a project scheduling exercise.

Importantly, the critical path to operational MW may not sit within the construction schedule itself.

It could sit in land or permitting, a utility milestone, a transformer manufacturing slot, specialist labor availability, controls integration or the commissioning sequence across multiple facilities.

Understanding those interfaces early allows owners to focus attention and capital on the constraints that actually determine when capacity can go live.

From planned MW to operational MW

One of my biggest takeaways from Yotta was how interconnected the challenge has become.

Power, land, capital, supply chain, construction and operations can no longer be considered independently. At the scale now being planned, success depends on aligning them around the date that ultimately matters: when capacity becomes operational.

Power remains fundamental. But securing power alone does not deliver a data center.

The industry also needs the land, equipment, people, supply chain and delivery capability to convert that power into operating assets consistently and predictably.

For owners and developers, perhaps the most important measure of success won't simply be how many megawatts have been announced or secured.

It will be how many can be reliably brought online — and when.

Megawatts demonstrate the scale of the ambition. Delivery certainty determines how much of that ambition becomes reality.

Alex Mackenzie is a Director at Gardiner & Theobald, an independent project and cost management consultancy with fourteen offices across the United States.