Prioritising AI data centres could block new homes, builders warn

Artificial intelligence data (AI) centres could get priority access to the electricity grid under new government proposals to tackle soaring energy demands. Currently all new infrastructure, from hospitals to industrial sites, must join a virtual queue to get an electricity connection. In the first half of 2025 the queue grew by 460%, driven mostly by power-hungry data centres meaning some projects face waits of years to get up and running. Under Wednesday's proposals, projects which promise the most economic growth and jobs could jump the queue. But the Home Builders Federation has warned failing to prioritise connections for housing developments would be an effective "moratorium" on new homes. In November, the regulator for the energy sector Ofgem warned that the queue to get a supply of electricity had surged past "even the most ambitious forecasts for future demand" driven mostly by the demand from AI data centres. And it warned that some of those projects in the queue were only "speculative" - even if they were given a connection they did not have enough financing, proper planning permission or land rights to lead to a real project. The risk was that genuine projects, further