Data Center Builders, Power Suppliers Duel for Project Needs

Energy and business attorneys Ram Sunkara and Joshua Belcher were quoted in a Law360 article examining how surging demand for data centers, and the electricity needed to power them, is intensifying competition for scarce equipment, engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) capacity and skilled labor, driving up costs and extending project timelines.

Mr. Sunkara noted this tension between data center and generator developers will likely become even more pronounced as data centers gravitate toward large, baseload power sources, saying, "The EPC contracts, because some of these turbines are [being delivered] in 2028-29, we think the real constraint on those large-scale construction projects are going to be in a few years."

Mr. Belcher highlighted how some developers are addressing immediate power needs by sourcing equipment outside traditional channels. "They're picking up equipment that probably independent power producers and utilities wouldn't touch," he explained, referring to the "gray market" for repurposed turbines from liquefied natural gas or ammonia plants.

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