Updated October 27, 2026. Berkeley Lab's 2026 edition reports over 2,060 GW of proposed generation and storage actively seeking transmission interconnection at year-end 2025 (1,312 GW of generation and about 749 GW of storage). This is a supply-side queue, not a queue of data-center loads or a forecast of projects that will be built. Of capacity in interconnection requests submitted during 2000–2020, 13% had reached commercial operation by end-2025; 75% had withdrawn and 10% remained active. Interconnection schedules vary by utility, location, project, and study stage, so no single national wait time describes a data-center customer connection.
The distinction between equipment procurement and customer interconnection matters: they are separate schedules, with different evidence and no universal “dead zone.” A site may assess on-site generation, staged load, or utility service, subject to engineering, fuel, permitting, and commercial constraints.
Equipment Delivery And Interconnection
Project planning depends on equipment lead times for the specific model, order, and supplier. Check delivery estimates against dated supplier information and the actual construction schedule.
Equipment delivery estimates are specific to equipment class, order date, source, and project. The dated, source-linked equipment record on The Record shows the reported scope and publication date for each figure; it should not be read as a procurement quote or a synchronized market survey.
The Texas governor's office cited an estimate of roughly 474 GW of ERCOT large-load requests, about 90% associated with data centers, in an August 3, 2026 audit directive. These were requests, not firm commitments, an operating-load forecast, or available capacity. The estimate was a dated snapshot from a process under review; completion of the announced audit was not verified by October 27.
When permanent power slips past the building's own construction schedule, the schedule itself becomes the primary project risk.
The Economics Of Early Energization
Schedule delay can affect a project's economics, but revenue per MW depends on utilization, customer contracts, service mix, and costs. Without those project-specific inputs, a delay cannot be converted into a general revenue-loss figure. Bridge generation is one option to assess against its capital, fuel, emissions, operating, and interconnection requirements.
Modular generation may let a project stage capacity as load grows. Its economics and usable output depend on equipment, site, and operating conditions; temporary power does not guarantee an earlier energization date or recovery of project costs.
Engineering A Bridge-Power Plan
Equipment selection for continuous operation is a technical and regulatory decision. Project teams need to verify duty-cycle ratings, emissions permits, fuel availability, thermal and altitude derating, redundancy, and delivery schedules for the specific equipment and site. Nameplate capacity alone does not establish usable output or commissioning readiness.
Two Strategic Pathways
Bridge-to-BTM can fill a gap when a project has selected permanent behind-the-meter assets and their delivery schedule does not align with the load schedule. Procurement delays vary; a fixed two-year slip should not be assumed.
Bridge-to-grid describes temporary on-site supply while utility service is pending. Neither approach is universally suitable, and no fixed unit increment or revenue outcome applies to every site.
Schedule Protection Is The Metric
Power availability and schedule risk belong in early project planning. For edge and colocation developers, useful steps include assessing options to decouple energization from the utility date, planning for equipment-delivery slippage, and validating performance and fuel assumptions against the site's conditions.
The divergence between building and power timelines creates a project risk that should be evaluated alongside equipment delivery, interconnection, and commissioning milestones.
Sources reviewed October 27, 2026: Berkeley Lab, Queued Up 2026 (data through 2025) · Texas Governor, data-center audit directive, August 3, 2026 · Texas Governor, TCEQ permit directive, September 21, 2026