US data centre developers are flooding utilities with inflated growth plans, muddying efforts to plan for future power needs with projects that may never materialise.

Developers are approaching multiple utilities with the same project in a quest to find the lowest-priced power, leading to so-called phantom data centres, according to energy industry experts and company executives. The plans are being left in the queue of projects waiting to connect to the grid even after they are no longer viable, leading to bloated demand forecasts.

The artificial intelligence boom is fuelling the US economy, with capital spending on infrastructure offsetting weakness in other sectors. But doubts are mounting over the amount of power data centres will need because of dubious forecasts caused by double counting and the potential for data centres to become more flexible and efficient in their energy needs.