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Silicon Valley data centers totalling nearly 100MW could 'sit empty for years' due to lack of power — huge installations are idle because Santa Clara can't cope with surging electricity demands

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Tom's Hardware

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Two new data centers in Silicon Valley, designed for high-density computing workloads, are sitting empty due to a lack of power. Digital Realty's SJC37 facility and Stack Infrastructure's SVY02A campus were built for a total of nearly 100 megawatts but cannot be energized until the local grid can handle the demand. Santa Clara's utility is investing in grid upgrades to meet the needs of the 57 active or planned data center facilities in the area. Similar power supply challenges are emerging in other tech hubs like Northern Virginia, where connection delays are common. Despite efforts to coordinate power delivery with the utility, the gap between completed data center buildings and available electricity is expected to widen as AI infrastructure demands grow.

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