• Andrew Lipman used Metro Connect Fall to frame power, fibre deployment, and regulation as practical constraints on US digital infrastructure growth
  • Texas's grid review shows the gap between headline demand and infrastructure that has actually cleared the steps required for delivery

The fact

Andrew Lipman, a partner at Morgan Lewis, used his opening remarks at Metro Connect Fall in Austin on 2 September to outline 10 pressures facing digital infrastructure.

Several of them come down to the same problem: demand is growing faster than projects can always be delivered. Fibre operators are trying to expand networks for AI traffic, FTTH and BEAD-funded broadband, but construction can still be slowed by tariffs, higher costs, Buy America rules, permitting delays, labour shortages and equipment supply.

Power is creating a similar bottleneck for data centres. In Texas, Governor Greg Abbott asked ERCOT and the Public Utility Commission to review projects seeking grid connections before they move further through the process. ERCOT was dealing with more than 474GW of requested load at the time.

That figure does not mean 474GW of data-centre capacity will be built. On 3 September, ERCOT said some projects entering its Batch Zero study still needed further verification, corrected technical information, or regulatory exceptions before they could progress.

The assessment

The common problem is not a shortage of demand. It is the number of things that must happen before demand becomes working infrastructure. A data-centre developer can have customers and financing but still wait for verified grid capacity. A fibre operator can have contracted demand but miss its schedule if permits, equipment, or construction crews are not ready.

That changes how projects should be judged. Announced megawatts, route miles or investment figures say little about when capacity can actually enter service. More useful milestones are verified power, completed permits, secured equipment, available contractors, completed fibre routes, and commissioning dates.

For BTW readers, Lipman's flashpoints are most useful as a warning against treating demand as deployment. The projects that matter are those that can move through each dependency and convert customer demand into permitted, powered and connected capacity.

What to watch

Watch how much of Texas's Batch Zero pipeline survives verification and moves into grid studies, alongside the pace at which fibre projects progress from funding and design into construction. Permitting times, equipment lead times, and confirmed commissioning dates will show whether deployment capacity is keeping pace with the demand now being announced.