[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":152},["ShallowReactive",2],{"{\"language\":\"en\",\"resolve_relations\":[\"post.author\"]}posts\u002Fthe-ai-buildout-s-new-test-is-proving-an-energization-date":3},{"data":4,"headers":130},{"story":5,"cv":117,"rels":118,"links":129},{"name":6,"created_at":7,"published_at":8,"updated_at":9,"id":10,"uuid":11,"content":12,"slug":110,"full_slug":111,"sort_by_date":60,"position":112,"tag_list":113,"is_startpage":24,"parent_id":114,"meta_data":60,"group_id":115,"first_published_at":8,"release_id":60,"lang":66,"path":60,"alternates":116,"default_full_slug":60,"translated_slugs":60},"The AI buildout's new test is proving an energization date","2026-10-05T21:52:08.623Z","2026-10-05T21:55:21.966Z","2026-10-05T21:55:21.982Z",227522677282607,"ab62e1dc-6ece-49cf-a28f-9ac2ef955f03",{"seo":13,"_uid":28,"date":29,"intro":30,"title":31,"author":32,"blocks":69,"category":104,"featured":24,"component":105,"thumbnail":106,"hero_image":108},[14],{"_uid":15,"image":16,"title":25,"component":26,"description":27},"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," The AI buildout's new test is proving an energization date","seo","The AI buildout hasn't slowed because demand disappeared. It's slowing because delivery has become the hard part. In this issue of Digital Power Digest, Keel Infrastructure SVP of Power Chris Ruppel explains why the constraint has moved downstream from chips and announced gigawatts to power, permits, financing, and community acceptance. A project that can prove an energization date now has the advantage over a project that only has a big announcement.\n\nProjects can't stay on schedule anymore without community acceptance. Data Center Watch counted 45 U.S. data center projects worth $68B that were blocked or delayed by local opposition in Q2. Pew found the share of Americans who say data centers are mostly bad for household electricity costs rose from 38% to 50% between January and August. Power is the other bottleneck. PJM has declared a record number of energy-emergency days in 2026. ERCOT and CAISO have had none, because Texas and California added storage and solar much faster. That’s pushing developers toward behind-the-meter generation. Oracle's Project Jupiter and the fine New Jersey imposed on DataOne for its Vineland project show that on-site power creates its own permitting, fuel, and equipment challenges.\n\nCapital is still available, but investors now underwrite projects based on whether developers can build them. They ask how many megawatts have power, permits, security, and a credible energization date, not how many gigawatts are in the pipeline. Better chips haven't reduced electricity demand, either, because developers are using the efficiency gains on denser racks and more inference. Morgan Stanley estimates that pulling an energization date forward one year is worth about $4.50 per watt. Land and capital are available, and chips can be manufactured. Far fewer developers have a plan for getting power to a site that will hold up.\n\n\n","e270c710-bcda-4642-9482-84d4501225d8","2026-10-05 00:00","Power, permits, financing, and community acceptance now decide which AI campuses get built. Keel Infrastructure SVP Chris Ruppel on why energized megawatts win. ","Digital Power Digest- Volume 5: September 21 - October 4, 2026",{"name":33,"created_at":34,"published_at":35,"updated_at":36,"id":37,"uuid":38,"content":39,"slug":58,"full_slug":59,"sort_by_date":60,"position":61,"tag_list":62,"is_startpage":24,"parent_id":63,"meta_data":60,"group_id":64,"first_published_at":65,"release_id":60,"lang":66,"path":60,"alternates":67,"default_full_slug":60,"translated_slugs":60,"_stopResolving":68},"Christopher Ruppel","2026-03-17T16:24:01.161Z","2026-04-06T00:09:57.160Z","2026-04-06T00:09:57.172Z",155955368617120,"5ce15b6e-5eb2-4ef8-ac4a-d147b128da73",{"_uid":40,"name":33,"blocks":41,"component":51,"expertise":52,"profile_picture":53},"01c2c833-f9f0-45f9-8b9b-80f2b5fa8be9",[42],{"_uid":43,"title":44,"blocks":45,"component":50,"is_large_title":24},"c0441a69-4a21-4765-986a-e2b9023e724d","Expertise ",[46],{"_uid":47,"copy":48,"component":49},"8f5c2874-33b2-4679-b5de-c44bb00257dd","Christopher Ruppel joined Keel Infrastructure as Senior Vice President of Power. 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":54,"alt":55,"name":19,"focus":19,"title":19,"source":19,"filename":56,"copyright":19,"fieldtype":21,"meta_data":57,"is_external_url":24},158128143448457,"Portrait of Christ Ruppel","https:\u002F\u002Fa.storyblok.com\u002Ff\u002F290340181793214\u002F853x1280\u002Ffb552a6926\u002Fchris-ruppel-large.jpeg",{"alt":55,"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,[70],{"_uid":71,"copy":72,"component":103},"3e0da7d4-97e5-4754-8cb7-7c7e276efe50",{"type":73,"attrs":74,"content":75},"doc",{"backgroundColor":60},[76,83,88,92],{"type":77,"attrs":78,"content":79},"paragraph",{"textAlign":60},[80],{"text":81,"type":82},"The AI buildout hasn't slowed because demand disappeared. It's slowing because delivery has become the hard part. In this issue of Digital Power Digest, Keel Infrastructure SVP of Power Chris Ruppel explains why the constraint has moved downstream from chips and announced gigawatts to power, permits, financing, and community acceptance. A project that can prove an energization date now has the advantage over a project that only has a big announcement.","text",{"type":77,"attrs":84,"content":85},{"textAlign":60},[86],{"type":87},"hard_break",{"type":77,"attrs":89,"content":90},{"textAlign":60},[91],{"type":87},{"type":77,"attrs":93,"content":94},{"textAlign":60},[95],{"text":96,"type":82,"marks":97},"Read More",[98],{"type":99,"attrs":100},"link",{"href":101,"uuid":60,"anchor":60,"target":102,"linktype":21},"https:\u002F\u002Fa.storyblok.com\u002Ff\u002F290340181793214\u002Fx\u002F3ad7a29328\u002Fdpd-issue-5-1.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":107,"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":109,"is_external_url":24},{"alt":18,"size":23,"title":19,"source":19,"copyright":19},"the-ai-buildout-s-new-test-is-proving-an-energization-date","posts\u002Fthe-ai-buildout-s-new-test-is-proving-an-energization-date",-240,[],146629530122758,"434e4754-4ab0-4bb6-b4c1-d3b732adcc89",[],1791237322,[119],{"name":33,"created_at":34,"published_at":35,"updated_at":36,"id":37,"uuid":38,"content":120,"slug":58,"full_slug":59,"sort_by_date":60,"position":61,"tag_list":127,"is_startpage":24,"parent_id":63,"meta_data":60,"group_id":64,"first_published_at":65,"release_id":60,"lang":66,"path":60,"alternates":128,"default_full_slug":60,"translated_slugs":60},{"_uid":40,"name":33,"blocks":121,"component":51,"expertise":52,"profile_picture":125},[122],{"_uid":43,"title":44,"blocks":123,"component":50,"is_large_title":24},[124],{"_uid":47,"copy":48,"component":49},{"id":54,"alt":55,"name":19,"focus":19,"title":19,"source":19,"filename":56,"copyright":19,"fieldtype":21,"meta_data":126,"is_external_url":24},{"alt":55,"title":19,"source":19,"copyright":19},[],[],[],{"cache-control":131,"connection":132,"content-encoding":133,"content-type":134,"date":135,"etag":136,"referrer-policy":137,"sb-be-version":138,"server":139,"transfer-encoding":140,"vary":141,"via":142,"x-amz-cf-id":143,"x-amz-cf-pop":144,"x-cache":145,"x-content-type-options":146,"x-frame-options":147,"x-permitted-cross-domain-policies":148,"x-request-id":149,"x-runtime":150,"x-xss-protection":151},"max-age=0, public, s-maxage=604800, stale-if-error=3600","keep-alive","gzip","application\u002Fjson; charset=utf-8","Mon, 05 Oct 2026 21:56:33 GMT","W\u002F\"52dbe96290afaae54edf5f11085c3ac1\"","strict-origin-when-cross-origin","5.980.1","nginx\u002F1.29.1","chunked","Origin,Accept-Encoding","1.1 717a0e7af2a3da4138a71f64ce4675d0.cloudfront.net (CloudFront)","HQoLl3d3DLz74knMA3q5GgV8l75EOhYxNrUI51wBE797r4JrpSrOIg==","IAD55-P6","Miss from cloudfront","nosniff","SAMEORIGIN","none","ce4f1f0d-17ac-43ef-9a7d-1013bb078f12","0.020843","0",1791237393662]