# Data, power and dollars: financing the AI energy boom | live from the ACORE finance forum in New York

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/energy-gang-887131/data-power-and-dollars-financing-the-ai-energy-boom-live-from-the-acore-finance-forum-in-new-york
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/energy-gang-887131/data-power-and-dollars-financing-the-ai-energy-boom-live-from-the-acore-finance-forum-in-new-york.md
Podcast: [Energy Gang](https://stenobird.com/podcast/energy-gang-887131)
Published: 2026-05-13T23:00:00+00:00
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Duration seconds: 4591

## Resource

The numbers are staggering. The “magnificent seven” Big Tech companies are expected to have combined capital spending of about $800 billion this year. Data centres’ electricity demand is soaring, and hundreds of billions of dollars more are being mobilised to invest in power infrastructure to meet that demand. In this special episode, recorded at the ACORE Finance Forum in New York, host Ed Crooks speaks with five guests at the heart of the revolution in energy finance: bankers, a deal lawyer, a data centre operator and a head of policy.  James Wright, Managing Director and Head of US Corporate Banking at CIBC Capital Markets, explains the connection between power, data centres and AI with an analogy borrowed from Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang. Think of AI as a layer cake, with power as the base, data centre infrastructure above it, then hardware, then AI models, and the applications as the icing on top. For banks like CIBC, it is those bottom two layers that matter most. James explains how power developers and data centre builders are increasingly converging. Gas, solar and battery storage are driving the bulk of activity in new power generation, though gas turbine supply chains remain severely stretched. “Powered land” projects, created as sites to attract data centre developers, are a popular idea at the moment. But many of them are highly speculative. James estimates that for every twenty conversations, perhaps a couple result in a financeable transaction.  Another hot topic is of behind-the-meter generation and co-located power. James sees it happening, but only at the margin. Grid connections are still the ultimate goal.  Adam Altenhofen, Senior Vice President for Impact Finance at US Bank, brings a different perspective on energy finance. US Bank has de…

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