Half of planned US data center builds have been delayed or canceled, growth limited by shortages of power infrastructure and parts from China — the AI build-out flips the breakers

Nearly half of planned U.S. data-center builds in 2026 are projected to be delayed or canceled, Bloomberg reports.

Shortages of power-delivery equipment — including imports from China and other countries — are slowing project timelines.

Lead times for high-power transformers have jumped from 24–30 months before 2020 to as long as five years today.

About 12 GW of U.S. data-center capacity is expected to come online in 2026, but only roughly one-third of that is currently under active construction.

Alphabet, Amazon, Meta and Microsoft are expected to spend more than $650 billion in 2026 to expand AI capacity; Canada, Mexico and South Korea have become major suppliers of high-power transformers.