What if utilities that built generation for AI load face stranded assets when demand falls short?
Utilities that committed generation and grid capex to speculative AI load face stranded assets and rate-base disputes when promised data-center demand fails to arrive.
how we built this number — every step
The class rate is measured from our dated, sourced event library (decade-normalized Poisson — the full table is public at base_rates.json). The variant’s share within its class is the analyst’s editorial call, published so you can audit it. A wider range means thinner precedent. Full recipe: methodology · scored at Reality Check.
The butterfly cascade
How this trigger trickles across markets, left → right — the root shock, its first‑order moves, then the ripple effects. Drag any node; tap a market for its real price history.
Resolution timeline — how this probability is moving
Our model's odds (gold) over time vs the crowd's (Polymarket, blue), from the past toward the 1–3 years horizon. Each dot is a real macro event that nudged the probability — green pushed it up, red pushed it down. Tap a dot for the source. The gold path is an illustrative reconstruction anchored to today's estimate — real dated events, not a live re-estimate history.
What it would mean
If this plays out, it is a risk-off shock. Utilities that committed generation and grid capex to speculative AI load face stranded assets and rate-base disputes when promised data-center demand fails to arrive. The trigger decomposes into signed root‑shocks — AI capex ▼ · Credit spreads ▲ · Industrial demand ▼ · Risk appetite ▼ — which propagate through our causal graph to the markets below.
If it happens — the markets it would move
Biggest moves first. Projected moves are cascade-model priors; hist A–B% = what comparable past events actually did (measured abnormal returns), and model prior · unmeasured marks markets with no analogue backing yet. Tap any market for its price history.
| Market | Class | Projected move | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nvidia NVDAon Hyperliquid 📈 chart | Equity | ▼ -1.0% hist -1.13–-0.13% · other way +6.32% (n=12) |
| 2 | Broadcom AVGOon Hyperliquid 📈 chart | Equity | ▼ -0.8% hist -0.98–+0.81% · other way +0.79% (n=10) |
| 3 | Micron MUon Hyperliquid 📈 chart | Equity | ▼ -0.7% hist -0.72–+0.41% · other way -0.21% (n=12) |
| 4 | Semiconductors SMHon Hyperliquid 📈 chart | Equity | ▼ -0.6% hist -0.56–+0.47% · other way -0.19% (n=12) |
| 5 | MicroStrategy MSTRon Hyperliquid 📈 chart | Equity | ▼ -0.7% hist -0.84–+0.75% · other way +19.13% (n=12) |
| 6 | Solana SOLon Hyperliquid 📈 chart | Crypto | ▼ -0.6% hist -3.89–+0.8% · other way -5.52% (n=10) |
| 7 | Volatility (VIX) VIXon Hyperliquid 📈 chart | Vol | ▲ +0.4% hist -2.23–+7.88% · other way -7.89% (n=12) |
| 8 | Nasdaq 100 NDXon Hyperliquid 📈 chart | Index | ▼ -0.4% hist -0.32–+0.08% · other way +0.94% (n=12) |
| 9 | High-yield credit HYG 📈 chart | Rate | ▼ -0.4% hist -0.36–-0.11% · other way +0.7% (n=12) |
| 10 | Hyperliquid (HYPE) HYPEon Hyperliquid | Crypto | ▼ -0.4% model prior · unmeasured |
| 11 | Ether ETHon Hyperliquid 📈 chart | Crypto | ▼ -0.4% hist -6.94–+2.51% · other way +6.05% (n=10) |
| 12 | Bitcoin BTCon Hyperliquid 📈 chart | Crypto | ▼ -0.4% hist -5.46–+0.65% · other way +12.08% (n=10) |
| 13 | AMD AMDon Hyperliquid 📈 chart | Equity | ▼ -0.4% hist -0.99–+1.42% · other way -1.49% (n=12) |
| 14 | TSMC TSMon Hyperliquid 📈 chart | Equity | ▼ -0.4% hist -0.29–-0.03% · other way +0.6% (n=12) |
Probable recommendation
Historical precedent — what analogous events actually did
Across 40 analogous events (overlap‑weighted), as abnormal returns — market beta stripped, so it's the event's own effect, not the market backdrop. Shown at 20 days (persistent) and 5 days (immediate); ↺ fades = the two horizons disagree. Confidence = consistency × sample × significance.
| Asset | History says | Abnormal (20d · 5d) | Hit | n | Confidence | vs cascade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bitcoin BTC | SHORT | -4.4% · 5d -2.1% | 75% | 27 | 0.39 | ✓ matches cascade |
| SOL SOL | SHORT | -3.2% · 5d -7.7% | 67% | 23 | 0.24 | ✓ matches cascade |
| Volatility VIX | LONG | +6.9% · 5d +1.8% | 63% | 40 | 0.22 | ✓ matches cascade |
| FCX FCX | SHORT | -0.5% · 5d -0.9% | 60% | 40 | 0.18 | ✓ matches cascade |
| 10y yield DGS10 | SHORT | -6bp · 5d -1bp | 60% | 40 | 0.17 | · |
| JPM JPM | SHORT | -0.8% · 5d -0.9% | 60% | 40 | 0.16 | ✓ matches cascade |
| Gold XAU | LONG | +0.5% · 5d +0.0% | 58% | 40 | 0.15 | · |
| ETH ETH | SHORT | -6.3% · 5d -4.0% | 58% | 24 | 0.11 | ✓ matches cascade |
| ASML ASML | SHORT | -1.4% · 5d -3.2% | 57% | 40 | 0.11 | ✓ matches cascade |
| SMH SMH | LONG | +0.8% · 5d -0.9% ↺ fades | 55% | 40 | 0.10 | ⚠ differs |
| XCU XCU | SHORT | -0.9% · 5d -0.7% | 55% | 40 | 0.10 | ✓ matches cascade |
| NDX NDX | LONG | +0.3% · 5d -1.1% ↺ fades | 55% | 40 | 0.09 | ⚠ differs |
| NVDA NVDA | SHORT | -0.5% · 5d -3.5% | 54% | 40 | 0.06 | ✓ matches cascade |
| High-yield credit HYG | SHORT | -0.1% · 5d +0.0% ↺ fades | 54% | 39 | 0.06 | ✓ matches cascade |