Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--A general sense of optimism pervaded Industrial Info's 2025 North American Industrial Outlook event on Wednesday, wafted along by President Donald Trump's potential impact on various industries.
Industrial Info's Executive Vice President Michael Bergen highlighted a record-breaking $954 billion in planned U.S. industrial projects slated for construction this year. Many of these projects had been delayed from 2024 due to uncertainty surrounding the presidential election. As the year begins, a significant portion of these initiatives still require regulatory and funding approvals. The policy changes are expected to hinder further progress, as project owners await clear and decisive guidance before committing to action. As a result, Industrial Info anticipates that approximately 59% of these projects will be postponed to future years, leaving approximately $395 billion moving forward in 2025.
Bergen also identified industries poised to gain the most under the "Trump 2.0" administration. These include data centers and related power-generation capacity, liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports, power transmission and distribution, battery manufacturing, natural gas pipelines and storage, and manufacturing reshoring. These sectors are likely to emerge as the biggest beneficiaries of the current political climate.
To the applause of the audience, Britt Burt, IIR's senior vice president of global research for the Electric Power industry, started off his presentation with a review of natural gas-fired power plant projects, what he called a "nice surprise." In the past few years, he had led with a review of the huge growth in renewable power projects such as solar and wind facilities.
"The tides are changing just a little bit," Burt said.
Industrial Info is tracking $22.9 billion worth of grassroot U.S. and Canadian natural gas-fired power plant projects and $16.13 billion worth of expansions that are planned for construction starts during 2025-2026.
One of the engines of change is the rapid growth of power-hungry artificial intelligence (AI) data centers in the U.S., which is fueling the need for new natural gas-fired power capacities, he noted.
Nuclear power also will benefit from the data center boom, Burt said. He highlighted the expected restart of Holtec International Incorporated's (Jupiter, Florida) Palisades nuclear power plant in Michigan, in October 2025, the potential restart of the Unit 1 reactor at the former Three Mile Island power station (now the Crane Clean Energy Center) in Pennsylvania by Constellation Energy Corporation (NYSE:CEG) (Baltimore, Maryland) and Santee Cooper's (Moncks Corner, South Carolina) interest in finding a buyer to revive its partially built V.C. Summer two-reactor nuclear power project in South Carolina. Subscribers can click here for the Palisades project report and click here for the Crane Clean Energy Center project.
Even coal-fired power plants are seeing a slowdown in closures as a result of the need for power, Burt said.
In the renewable energy arena, Burt said he had expected the Trump administration to pull back renewable energy government incentives and programs, but not as fast as it happened. On day one of his administration, Trump placed a moratorium on new offshore wind leases and prohibited federal agencies from issuing new or renewed approvals, rights of way, permits, leases or loans for onshore or offshore wind projects pending an assessment and review of federal wind leasing and permitting practices.
Shaheen Chohan, Industrial Info's vice president of global analytics, quipped that he was forced to revise his global market outlook six times over a week due to Trump's flurry of executive orders. He detailed the pluses and minuses of potential impact of a potential new U.S. tariff on imported goods. On one hand, a universal 10% tariff on imported goods could result in trillions of dollars in new U.S. revenues and goad more industries into relocating their plants to the U.S. On the other hand, he said, such action could result in tit-for-tat tariffs by other countries, which is a cause for concern.
Also, Canadian and Mexican auto makers would be hard hit by such tariffs, and create a "lose-lose" situation for Canada, Mexico and the U.S. Ultimately, tariffs, or the threat of tariffs, could be used as a way to bring various parties to the bargaining table.
The 2025 North American Industrial Outlook drew more than 400 attendees.
Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking more than 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 Trillion (USD).
