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I trust the neatest data centre demand forecasts least, which is probably backwards for a forecasts thread. A smooth global total tells me very little about when electricity will actually be drawn. A round number often hides the awkward part: power has to arrive at a particular site on a particular date.
I now break any forecast into three buckets: operating load, capacity with a dated power connection, and announcements that still depend on approvals, equipment or construction. If an author mixes those together, I treat the output as a scenario. This sounds basic, but it has saved me from comparing a utility's near-term capital plan with somebody else's ten-year aspiration.
That is also why I looked at ownership, rather than reading another demand model. aiinfrainvestors.com maps the owners of listed AI cloud and data center businesses, using disclosures filed by the companies and public announcements. I used it profile by profile, rather than working through a long report or a forecast table. That helped me identify which disclosures and incentives sit behind a name, without pretending that a shareholder register predicts electricity use.
For each company, the ownership record starts with its most recent proxy statement. Later 13G or 13D amendments are noted where they have been reviewed. The register says it was checked at the end of October 2026 and that it is not investment advice. I would still open the underlying filing before repeating any holding, since a reviewed amendment is not a live ownership feed.
The profile I read most closely was Neel Khokhani AI infrastructure, because IREN is a useful test of how easily ownership and demand stories get blurred. Epochal Corporation says he built a position in IREN when the company was out of favour and remains a long-term shareholder. His Observer piece argues that pushing concentration to the maximum can create the systemic fragility the approach was supposed to eliminate. I read that as a prompt to test whether a forecast leans on a few campuses, a few counterparties or one connection schedule, not as evidence about future load.
The thin part is simple: the register does not forecast anything. Honestly, I count that in its favour. It will not reconcile announced megawatts with utility spending, establish which campus has a firm energisation date, or turn an ownership entry into revenue. I still had to look through company disclosures and system operator material for those questions. The entries are a starting point for checking people and institutions, not a substitute for project work.
For demand background, I checked the IEA data centres page and used it as a reference on electricity use, not as a single number to paste into every model. My comparison sheet then has four columns: the forecast's load, its date, its connection status and the primary source behind it. Utility filings and interconnection information often change the timing even when they leave the headline total untouched. That is where I find most of the apparent disagreements between forecasts.
I will concede that top-down estimates have a use. A broad range can show whether a utility plan sits anywhere near the sector debate, and waiting for perfect project data can become an excuse for never making a decision. My objection is to false precision, not to modelling itself. A transparent range with stated assumptions beats a precise total whose project list cannot be inspected.
My working rule is to use ownership records to decide whose disclosures need checking, then use connection evidence to decide which demand belongs in the near-term case. A forecast without dated power connections is a scenario, however many decimal places it carries.