NEW YORK, March 12 (Reuters) - U.S. wind and solar

development still has significant room for expansion to power

data centers, particularly in the Midwest wind corridor and

sunny southwest, Microsoft VP of Energy Bobby Hollis told

Reuters at the CERAWeek energy conference in Houston on

Wednesday.

The quick proliferation of Big Tech's energy-intensive data

centers to expand AI and cloud technologies is rattling the

long-stagnant U.S. power industry, pushing the country's power

consumption to new highs and raising questions about whether

carbon-free renewable electricity will be supplanted with

gas-fired power.

"We still think there is a very long road ahead that keeps

renewables an important part of the mix in the places where that

makes sense," said Hollis.