Layer 1 · The numbers that decide
The interconnection queue
The waiting list to connect new load or generation to the grid. In 2026 it is the single most important number in AI infrastructure and almost nobody outside the industry has heard of it.
The number
- What it is
- The waiting list to connect new load or generation to the grid. In 2026 it is the single most important number in AI infrastructure and almost nobody outside the industry has heard of it.
- Typical values
- US queue over 2,600 GW · average wait approaching 5 years · withdrawal rate near 80%
Verified 2026-09-09.
The catch
A queue position is not power. With four in five projects withdrawing, a competitor's announced gigawatts and their delivered gigawatts are very different numbers — and press releases quote the first.
What this is powering
A GB200 NVL72 rack draws 120–132 kW and a GB300 pushes 135–200 kW, against a 2026 average rack of about 27 kW. The silicon decision and the power decision are the same decision, made eighteen months apart.
Layer 2 — Silicon · GB200 NVL72 · The 150 W inference option
Others in the numbers that decide
Sources
Want this whole layer as one table?
The power and cooling options on these pages as a single CSV — lead time, capex, carbon, maturity, density supported, PUE, the catch and what each one decides — ready to sort, filter or load into a notebook.
Get the energy table — free for research and evaluation
Four short lines and the download starts at once (CC-BY-NC-4.0, built from these pages the moment you ask). What you type is used only to answer the request and is never sold. Prefer Hugging Face? Request it there.
Using it inside a product, a client report or anything you sell? That needs a commercial licence.