Captive power: the gating input of the AI buildout — premium holds while the grid waits
Behind-the-meter power becomes the gating input as AI load outruns the grid public grid ERCOT transmission AI data center campus inference scale-out interconnection queue solar array battery storage private wire · no queue grid + interconnection capacity catches up captive power premium holds chipmakers + offtakers co-invest control input · protect timing if grid catches up captive-power premium erodes, co-invest rationale weakens commissioned power · gating input 1 AI data center load grows faster than the grid can interconnect 2 grid interconnection queues, transmission limits delay hook-ups 3 co-develop behind-the-meter private-wire solar + storage to bypass queue, faster commissioning 4 scarce input migrates: compute silicon → commissioned power