Two brand-new data centers in Silicon Valley are ready to host 100 megawatts of AI hardware but may remain without power for years. Digital Realty and Stack Infrastructure are waiting for grid expansions that will not be completed until 2028.
This is according to Bloomberg. Two state-of-the-art data centers are waiting in Santa Clara, California. Digital Realty’s SJC37 covers around 40,000 square meters and is designed for 48 megawatts of critical load. Stack Infrastructure’s SVY02A campus, which can handle 48 megawatts, has its own substation and eight data halls. Yet both facilities are completely unusable.
The problem: there is no electricity available. The local power grid of Silicon Valley Power (SVP) cannot keep up with demand. According to Bloomberg, the data centers could “remain empty for years” before the necessary infrastructure is ready.
City invests, but it takes time
Santa Clara, owner of the utility Silicon Valley Power, is investing $450 million (€389 million) in grid upgrades. The investments are intended to deliver new substations and transmission lines. The plan is to complete the project by 2028. Until then, SVP will distribute power to customers as capacity becomes available.
The city already has 57 active or planned data centers. The explosive growth of AI workloads is driving demand even further. Modern AI clusters require hundreds of megawatts of power, pushing local networks to their limits.
According to Bloomberg, Digital Realty and Stack are coordinating with SVP to arrange phased power delivery. But as AI infrastructure grows faster than transmission projects are approved, the gap between completed buildings and available electricity is only widening.
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