Data centers need power. They need land. They need permits from people who hate tech companies and love saying no during campaign season. Demand is infinite. Supply is a zoning board in Virginia that meets twice a month.
The headline says the problem has nothing to do with demand. Correct. The problem is that building anything in America now requires navigating a regulatory gauntlet designed by people who think electricity comes from caring deeply about the environment. Every data center is a two-year permitting fight with locals who believe AI is going to steal their jobs while simultaneously objecting to the construction jobs building the data center would create.
This is an election year, which means every municipal bureaucrat with a clipboard suddenly has opinions about energy policy. They're stalling projects because taking a firm stance on anything makes you a target. Easier to delay until November and blame the other party for whatever happens next.
Retail traders see this headline and think it's bullish because demand isn't the issue. They'll buy stocks of companies that can't build the thing they need to build to meet the demand that definitely exists. Flawless logic. The kind of reasoning that makes you check your brokerage app seventeen times before lunch and wonder why you're down 40% on names that "can't lose."
China is building data centers in months while we're arguing about environmental impact statements for the fourteenth consecutive quarter. The stakes are incredibly high, says every politician who will vote against the thing that would help. We're going to maintain our lead by having really thoughtful conversations about it until we don't have the lead anymore.
The U.S. will win the data center race the same way you'll win back your losses: by waiting patiently and believing really hard that wanting it is the same as doing something about it.
Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash
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