[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":156},["ShallowReactive",2],{"{\"language\":\"en\",\"resolve_relations\":[\"post.author\"]}posts\u002Fai-s-buildout-goes-vertical-from-power-plants-to-turbines":3},{"data":4,"headers":134},{"story":5,"cv":121,"rels":122,"links":133},{"name":6,"created_at":7,"published_at":8,"updated_at":9,"id":10,"uuid":11,"content":12,"slug":114,"full_slug":115,"sort_by_date":59,"position":116,"tag_list":117,"is_startpage":24,"parent_id":118,"meta_data":59,"group_id":119,"first_published_at":8,"release_id":59,"lang":65,"path":59,"alternates":120,"default_full_slug":59,"translated_slugs":59},"AI's Buildout Goes Vertical From Power Plants to Turbines","2026-09-08T22:26:04.638Z","2026-09-08T22:45:15.045Z","2026-09-08T22:45:15.056Z",217975867975797,"f16ad610-9918-41c2-b95a-5c8c8ac5846c",{"seo":13,"_uid":27,"date":28,"intro":29,"title":30,"author":31,"blocks":68,"category":108,"featured":24,"component":109,"thumbnail":110,"hero_image":112},[14],{"_uid":15,"image":16,"title":6,"component":25,"description":26},"0b2255c1-04c6-484f-9505-d1f055394cba",{"id":17,"alt":18,"name":19,"focus":19,"title":19,"source":19,"filename":20,"copyright":19,"fieldtype":21,"meta_data":22,"is_external_url":24},207968453842624,"dpd_1","","https:\u002F\u002Fa.storyblok.com\u002Ff\u002F290340181793214\u002F1261x831\u002F718e276b65\u002Fistock-1299944072.jpg","asset",{"alt":18,"size":23,"title":19,"source":19,"copyright":19},"1261x831",false,"seo","PwC forecasts $31.6 trillion in cumulative global data center investment through 2050, with an upside scenario reaching $50 trillion. Those numbers make the scale of the AI buildout clear. What that capital is now chasing goes beyond chips and models, and into physical infrastructure. In this issue of Digital Power Digest, Keel Infrastructure SVP Chris Ruppel breaks down why the AI race has moved decisively into the physical economy and traces the bottleneck as it migrates from GPUs to electricity and now deeper into the supply chain behind it. SpaceX's push to manufacture its own gas-turbine blades and vanes is one example.\n\nThat change is happening even as inference costs collapse. GPT-4-class inference pricing has fallen from $60 to $0.10 since 2022, while the combined capex of Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet, and Meta has climbed from $130 billion to $725 billion over the same stretch. Cheaper tokens have expanded infrastructure demand, and Ruppel argues that the metric that matters more than raw chip performance is useful tokens produced per utility megawatt. Hyperscalers and AI platforms have responded by integrating vertically, securing their own generation, and deploying modular data centers rather than waiting on the grid. Their financing structures are growing just as unconventionally, and Nvidia, OpenAI, Anthropic, SB Energy, and Nscale increasingly occupy overlapping roles as customers, vendors, investors, and guarantors.\n\nRuppel closes on permission, the constraint money can't buy its way past. Political resistance is rising, even in Texas; construction unions are seeing record demand; and copper supply is on pace to fall short by 10 million tons by 2040. Meanwhile, FERC, utilities, and developers are fighting over who bears transmission and stranded-asset costs. The next AI infrastructure project needs power, and it increasingly needs a new rulebook.\n\n\n","e270c710-bcda-4642-9482-84d4501225d8","2026-09-08 00:00","PwC pegs the data-center buildout at $31.6 trillion, but the real shift is vertical: AI firms now secure their own power, turbines, and even chip supply chains. 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Chris brings more than two decades of experience at the intersection of advanced compute infrastructure and energy systems optimization. He has led development strategies spanning onsite generation, grid-connected assets, and gas-to-power solutions supporting high-density AI and edge-compute environments.\nChris’s experience includes originating and developing more than 4 GW of energy projects globally, structuring billions of dollars in project financings, and advising data center operators on resilient, commercially optimized energy strategies. Prior to joining Keel, he served as Head of Energy Development at MARA Holdings, where he led strategy for the company’s Digital Energy division, focusing on behind-the-meter power solutions, thermal optimization, and demand-response initiatives.","team_member_copy_block","team_member_block","team_member","Senior Vice President, Power",{"id":53,"alt":54,"name":19,"focus":19,"title":19,"source":19,"filename":55,"copyright":19,"fieldtype":21,"meta_data":56,"is_external_url":24},158128143448457,"Portrait of Christ Ruppel","https:\u002F\u002Fa.storyblok.com\u002Ff\u002F290340181793214\u002F853x1280\u002Ffb552a6926\u002Fchris-ruppel-large.jpeg",{"alt":54,"title":19,"source":19,"copyright":19},"christopher-ruppel","team-members\u002Fchristopher-ruppel",null,-170,[],146010902535401,"ccfaacf8-69a7-4d3e-8c7b-b317d370de47","2026-03-17T16:24:26.848Z","default",[],true,[69],{"_uid":70,"copy":71,"component":107},"3e0da7d4-97e5-4754-8cb7-7c7e276efe50",{"type":72,"attrs":73,"content":74},"doc",{"backgroundColor":59},[75,87,92,96],{"type":76,"attrs":77,"content":78},"paragraph",{"textAlign":59},[79],{"text":80,"type":81,"marks":82},"PwC forecasts $31.6 trillion in cumulative global data center investment through 2050, with an upside scenario reaching $50 trillion. Those numbers make the scale of the AI buildout clear. What that capital is now chasing goes beyond chips and models, and into physical infrastructure. In this issue of Digital Power Digest, Keel Infrastructure SVP Chris Ruppel breaks down why the AI race has moved decisively into the physical economy and traces the bottleneck as it migrates from GPUs to electricity and now deeper into the supply chain behind it. SpaceX's push to manufacture its own gas-turbine blades and vanes is one example.","text",[83],{"type":84,"attrs":85},"textStyle",{"color":86},"#000000",{"type":76,"attrs":88,"content":89},{"textAlign":59},[90],{"type":91},"hard_break",{"type":76,"attrs":93,"content":94},{"textAlign":59},[95],{"type":91},{"type":76,"attrs":97,"content":98},{"textAlign":59},[99],{"text":100,"type":81,"marks":101},"Read More",[102],{"type":103,"attrs":104},"link",{"href":105,"uuid":59,"anchor":59,"target":106,"linktype":21},"https:\u002F\u002Fa.storyblok.com\u002Ff\u002F290340181793214\u002Fx\u002F6ed1fd6539\u002Fdpd-issue-3.pdf","_blank","post_copy","Digital Power Digest","post",{"id":17,"alt":18,"name":19,"focus":19,"title":19,"source":19,"filename":20,"copyright":19,"fieldtype":21,"meta_data":111,"is_external_url":24},{"alt":18,"size":23,"title":19,"source":19,"copyright":19},{"id":17,"alt":18,"name":19,"focus":19,"title":19,"source":19,"filename":20,"copyright":19,"fieldtype":21,"meta_data":113,"is_external_url":24},{"alt":18,"size":23,"title":19,"source":19,"copyright":19},"ai-s-buildout-goes-vertical-from-power-plants-to-turbines","posts\u002Fai-s-buildout-goes-vertical-from-power-plants-to-turbines",-240,[],146629530122758,"fa66d390-0fb8-47e1-92d9-907c8a3866d2",[],1788910130,[123],{"name":32,"created_at":33,"published_at":34,"updated_at":35,"id":36,"uuid":37,"content":124,"slug":57,"full_slug":58,"sort_by_date":59,"position":60,"tag_list":131,"is_startpage":24,"parent_id":62,"meta_data":59,"group_id":63,"first_published_at":64,"release_id":59,"lang":65,"path":59,"alternates":132,"default_full_slug":59,"translated_slugs":59},{"_uid":39,"name":32,"blocks":125,"component":50,"expertise":51,"profile_picture":129},[126],{"_uid":42,"title":43,"blocks":127,"component":49,"is_large_title":24},[128],{"_uid":46,"copy":47,"component":48},{"id":53,"alt":54,"name":19,"focus":19,"title":19,"source":19,"filename":55,"copyright":19,"fieldtype":21,"meta_data":130,"is_external_url":24},{"alt":54,"title":19,"source":19,"copyright":19},[],[],[],{"cache-control":135,"connection":136,"content-encoding":137,"content-type":138,"date":139,"etag":140,"referrer-policy":141,"sb-be-version":142,"server":143,"transfer-encoding":144,"vary":145,"via":146,"x-amz-cf-id":147,"x-amz-cf-pop":148,"x-cache":149,"x-content-type-options":150,"x-frame-options":151,"x-permitted-cross-domain-policies":152,"x-request-id":153,"x-runtime":154,"x-xss-protection":155},"max-age=0, public, s-maxage=604800, stale-if-error=3600","keep-alive","gzip","application\u002Fjson; charset=utf-8","Tue, 08 Sep 2026 23:29:37 GMT","W\u002F\"59ae04c15109d4db87c159bccef825b5\"","strict-origin-when-cross-origin","5.959.0","nginx\u002F1.29.1","chunked","Origin,Accept-Encoding","1.1 717a0e7af2a3da4138a71f64ce4675d0.cloudfront.net (CloudFront)","-9Ggb9VIsapjUjBhIkwbdmR9RENHpMglngm97xdnOJ6kOOke58A9vw==","IAD55-P6","Miss from cloudfront","nosniff","SAMEORIGIN","none","c977a5f0-dafe-4c21-9266-593efde3466c","0.028468","0",1788910177623]