Markets to Watch: Data Center Power

Data center growth, driven largely by AI needs, presents a unique challenge for the power sector. As much as $720 billion of electric grid spending through 2030 may be needed for power generation, storage, and transmission to support new data centers. This presents compelling market opportunities for energy generation and storage technologies as well as innovations like energy-efficient chip technologies, flexibility solutions, and cooling and waste heat recovery technologies.

Published 2025. 4 pages. PDF.

Authors: Mrinalini Shah, MBA ’26, EDGE Fellow, Fuqua School of Business, Duke University, and Katie Kross, MBA, Managing Director, Center for Energy, Development, and the Global Environment (EDGE), Duke University.

Special thanks to: David Brown, Tyler Norris, Louis Linden, Christian Ezealigo, and other reviewers.