Wood Mackenzie says 54 gigawatts (GW) of new data center capacity entered the US pipeline in the second quarter of 2026, up 29% from a year earlier and 5% from the first quarter. The cumulative disclosed US pipeline now stands at more than 430 GW, and about 59% of it is under active development, according to the firm's US data center pipeline Q3 report.
Construction jumps to nearly 80 GW
Projects totaling nearly 80 GW are under construction, up from 44 GW at the end of Q1. Caitlin Connelly, senior analyst at Wood Mackenzie, said the data show projects steadily moving from early development into permitting and construction.
Wood Mackenzie also revised its Q1 2026 additions up to 52 GW from the 36 GW reported in its previous release. The firm attributed the change to lags in disclosure tracking and said it does not alter the overall trend.
PJM and ERCOT lead development
PJM and ERCOT together account for nearly half of all capacity under development. PJM has moved ahead of ERCOT in total development capacity, with about 20 GW of new projects entering active development in the first half of 2026. ERCOT's pipeline looks the most mature, with more than 40% of its development capacity already under construction.
The top five developers hold a quarter of both planned and development capacity. Total disclosed planned capex exceeds US$2.3 trillion nationally.
Utility commitments level off
High-confidence utility commitments held at about 300 GW in Q2 2026, as a handful of utilities cut their reported pipelines to remove speculative projects. Within that total, committed capacity backed by signed electricity service or construction agreements rose to 201 GW. Wood Mackenzie's risked supply view for PJM through 2036 runs short of the market's high-confidence load commitments, and the firm calls PJM the region most exposed to supply risk.
Moratoriums reach 42 states
More than 400 data center moratoriums have been enacted since January 2026 by state and local lawmakers. They affect 18% of tracked sites and more than 100 GW of planned capacity. By comparison, there were just 45 such actions across 2023 to 2025.
The largest single action is a September 2026 pause on new data center permits in Texas, along with an audit of the existing pipeline. It puts more than 60 GW of planned projects in Wood Mackenzie's tracker under scrutiny.
Wood Mackenzie says 92% of the moratoriums target land use or zoning approvals, and they typically last six to twelve months. Connelly said the moratoriums suggest lawmakers want time to build stronger frameworks, not to impose outright bans.
