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The U.S. power grid has a timing problem. Electricity demand is accelerating quickly, driven in part by data center buildout. But the infrastructure needed to serve that demand moves slowly.
New transmission lines can take a decade to permit and build. Distribution upgrades are lagging. Generation projects sit in interconnection queues for years. In some markets, the average time between a project requesting grid access and actually plugging in now stretches anywhere from three to eight years.
That mismatch is starting to shape the politics of data center growth across the country. Companies are eager to reap the benefits of artificial intelligence, but Americans are…
