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The 80-Megawatt Neighbor Sent Everyone a Bill
Charlie Cichetti
August 23, 2026
Smart strategies. Sharp stories. Sustainability that sticks.
📬 INTRO: THE NEIGHBOR MOVED IN
Back in June we met the new neighbor who wants 80 megawatts. Well, the neighbor moved in. And the first bill just arrived, addressed to everyone.
Data centers are now the load-bearing wall of the construction market, the biggest new line on regional power bills, and the most blocked building type in America, all at the same time. Whether you ever touch one, they're changing the economics of the buildings you do touch.
Here's a rundown on the pipeline, the bill, and the hedge.
🌍 FIELD NOTES: ONE BUILDING TYPE, EVERYONE’S PROBLEM
🏗️ The Only Crane Left Standing
June's numbers tell it plainly: total US construction spending slipped 0.1% for the month and 3.2% for the year, while data center construction rose 7% for the month and 46% versus June 2025. Strip data centers out and private nonresidential spending is down 7.9% year over year. Contractors with data center work carry 11 months of backlog. Those without carry 8.5.
One building type is shoring up the entire pipeline.
💡 The $23 Billion Surcharge
The market monitor for PJM, the grid operator across 14 states, found that expected data center demand was a primary driver of $23 billion in customer electricity price increases running through at least 2028. A separate NC State study projects Virginia's generation costs could climb as much as 57% by 2030.
Your tenants' power bills are already paying for someone else's compute.
🛑 The Backlash Gets Organized
In the first quarter of 2026, 75 major data center projects worth more than $130 billion were delayed or canceled, and over 300 cities, towns, and counties have passed bans or moratoriums. On July 14, New York's governor signed the nation's first state moratorium on new hyperscale data centers. Pennsylvania, Michigan, and South Carolina are weighing their own.
The fastest-growing building type in America is also the most blocked.
🔋 The Island Option
Congress noticed. The STRONG GRID Act, introduced July 29, would put $700 million into microgrids: a $200 million DOE pilot plus $500 million in state grants. Backers, including the National Association of State Energy Officials, argue facility microgrids free up grid capacity and let critical buildings make, store, and shed their own power.
Generating your own power just became a hedge against someone else's demand.
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🏛 BUILT TO LAST:
Price power into everything. Model electricity escalation into 2027-2028 operating budgets, especially in PJM territory. If you're chasing work, the backlog gap says where it is. If you're designing one, community approval is now a design problem.
By role:
🏢 Operators: Budget for rate escalation through 2028. PJM's market monitor just told you it's coming.
🔨 Builders: The 11-versus-8.5-month backlog gap is your market map.
📐 Designers: Approval risk is design risk now. The prettier and quieter the box, the faster the permit.
🌱 Emerging pros: Mission-critical and power skills are the hottest lane in the industry. Get in it.
💬 QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“Power planning has moved to the first meeting. Buildings that control their own load will control their costs.”
— Charlie Cichetti, CEO of Skema and LEED Fellow
🧠 TL;DR
Data centers are up 46% while everything else shrinks, and PJM says they added $23 billion to power bills. New York hit pause. Price power into every plan you make.
🧱RETROFIT THIS
🔧TOOLS DOWN:
Price the power.
Check the backlog.
Watch the moratoriums.
Consider the microgrid.
Every building is an energy project now.
The neighbor's bill is everyone's bill.
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