Local opposition accompanied at least $260 billion in U.S. data center investment cancellations during 2026, while projects planned for 2028 and later face greater regulatory exposure.
Plans targeting 2028 or beyond carry the higher exposure. Most projects aimed at 2027 are already progressing, and Texas and Georgia are identified as high-risk states.
The cancellation total measures investment value; it does not show how much planned computing capacity was removed. A separate earlier estimate placed 10 gigawatts to 15 gigawatts of 2027 capacity at risk of delay. Electricity constraints and AI rulemaking were discussed as distinct concerns alongside that estimate.
Power availability is a separate issue from regulatory exposure. Morgan Stanley estimates U.S. data center developers could face a 32-gigawatt power gap by 2028, as described in EconoTimes’ earlier coverage of the estimate.
