As data center controversies boil in different cities and sites around Oklahoma and some government entities consider new ordinances targeting the power-hungry AI operations, there’s a new report indicating that 30 to 50% of the data centers proposed across the world won’t come online before the end of the year.
Sightline Climate, in a new quarterly report called Outlooks, indicated developers had plans for completion of 140 projects in 2026 but nearly half will be delayed until 2027.
“110 data center projects were slated to come online last year, but 26% of them are delayed, and 10% quietly shifted their CODs back as power, permitting, and construction constraints dampened some ambitious timelines,” said Sightline in its new report.
“Projected delivery dates are getting harder to trust. In 2025, 26% of expected capacity slipped, and another 10% of projects pushed back their commercial operation dates without much notice. Given that track record, it wouldn’t be surprising if 30–50% of the capacity slated for 2026 ends up delayed,” stated Sightline Climate.
The reason for the delay? Power constraints, community opposition and grid equipment shortages. They are some of the very subjects discussed at length when it comes to decisions by city councils and state regulators—power demands and who will pay for them and heavy water use.
Sightline Climate found that developers plan to complete 140 projects this year, representing 16 gigawatts of new energy demand. But the delayed projects will likely include several in Oklahoma. Yet only about 5GW is currently under construction. Around 11GW remains in the announced stage with no visible construction progress, despite typical build timelines of 12–18 months. The report is tracking 190GW involving 777 large data centers and AI factories announced since 2024.
Axios Energy took note of the moratorium proposals across the U.S., including those filed in the current Oklahoma legislative session. The energy website spoke with Sightline Climate research analyst Oliva Wang.
“With midterm elections heating up, communities are growing restless over rising power prices — which many blame on data centers that increasingly require city-scale electricity. Zoom in: Sightline has tracked more than 10 new moratorium proposals in the past month alone in U.S. states. This includes New York, Michigan, Virginia and Oklahoma, Wang says,” reported Axios.
The report showed that some of the larger companies planning hyperscale centers, including Google, a company with data centers in Oklahoma, are building their own power capacity.
“While grid-connected remains the most popular powering model, especially for capacity with 2026 commissioning
dates, megasites built for AI training are large enough to justify their own power plants. Hyperscalers are increasingly willing to accept the additional complexity of building and managing on-site power in exchange for certainty on capacity, timelines, and emissions. Oracle stands out with predominantly on-site and hybrid capacity, driven by its involvement in Stargate project infrastructure (1.2GW in Abilene, 1.4GW in Shackelford, 1GW in Doña Ana, 1GW in Port Washington) as well as its own 1GW SMR-powered project in Nashville. It has the most aggressive strategy, but also the earliest stage projects.
Googleʼs pipeline looks grid-heavy for now, but with its recent
Intersect acquisition, it now has access to ~10.8GW of solar, storage, and gas. When these sites are confirmed, Google will have one of the largest on-site (and overall) pipelines,” stated the report.
The report also indicated Texas leads the U.S. in data center development and its rapid growth will have an indirect impact on Oklahoma through the Southwest Power Pool.
“With more than 22GW of planned capacity, Texas leads US
buildout. Its dominance comes from the promise of fast
interconnection timelines, abundant generation, and a
developer-friendly market structure, but the region is already
seeing signs of strain with six projects delayed from 2025.
While Texas seems attractive from a project development
perspective, ERCOTʼs infamous electricity price volatility and
physical risk from extreme weather could make actually
operating the data centers challenging. This will create a
ceiling for capacity in the state as hyperscalers diversify.
Many developers are doubling down on their hubs. Despite
grid congestion in Virginia and a well-publicized capacity
crunch in Pennsylvania, both states still have large pipelines.
Utilities here are in the best position to negotiate either
capacity additions or storage assets for grid services from
data center developers.
SPP makes a pitch to be the next frontier. The transmission
operator serving the Dakotas, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma,
and parts of Texas and Arkansas has passed a plan to connect
large loads to its grid faster. Watch for more announcements in
these states, despite having seen very little activity so far,” stated the report.