[Investment company Kimmeridge: Half of the data centers proposed in the United States may face the risk of delay or cancellation] On August 27, investment company Kimmeridge Energy Management Co. stated that due to rising opposition and the complexity of physical infrastructure construction itself, up to half of the data centers proposed in the United States may face the risk of delay or cancellation. “Silicon Valley-style models are running into real-world infrastructure constraints,” said Ben Dell, co-founder and managing partner of Kimmeridge. U.S. natural gas demand is expected to rise as new power plants are built to power the artificial intelligence boom. However, Dell said that if the data center project is delayed, the relevant demand forecast may also be lowered. U.S. natural gas producers generally look to AI to drive growth in natural gas consumption. Domestic natural gas prices have been relatively depressed for much of the past decade as a surge in supply from fracking overwhelmed demand. But big tech companies’ huge spending is being questioned by investors and public opposition to data centers is rising, creating more headwinds for natural gas bulls. Dell said U.S. natural gas demand is expected to increase by about 30 billion cubic feet per day, with most of that coming from LNG exports. Data centers may contribute 5 billion to 10 billion cubic feet of daily demand, but if projects are delayed, AI-related natural gas consumption may only fall on the low end of this forecast range.