Energy tariffs, public scrutiny, product traceability, congestion pricing and second-life batteries may reshape sustainable growth.
Artificial intelligence is moving sustainability out of the compliance report and into the operations room. In their report, Predictions 2027: Environmental Sustainability, Forrester analysts Abhijit Sunil, Paul Miller and Alla Valente, with Amy DeMartine, Danielle Chittem and Peter Harrison, argue that the rapid growth of AI, cloud services and data centres will force governments, businesses and communities to confront a harder question: who uses the power, water, land and public infrastructure required for digital growth, and who bears the cost?
The report frames 2027 as a turning point, when sustainability becomes less a constraint on expansion and more the discipline that can make growth viable, resilient and socially acceptable. Its five predictions carry an important message for Indian businesses as well: digital strategy, energy strategy and social licence to operate can no longer be managed separately.
1. Data-centre growth may bring new energy tariffs
Forrester predicts that two countries will impose energy tariffs on data-centre owners or builders in 2027. The pressure comes from a steep rise in power demand. The report forecasts that US data-centre power demand could more than double from 31 GW in 2025 to 66 GW in 2027.
The concern is not only the price of electricity. Utilities may be asked to build expensive infrastructure for facilities whose expected load may arrive late, grow more slowly than projected, or never fully materialise. As a result, large data-centre developers could face long-term minimum-payment obligations, financial security requirements, credible load-ramp plans and expectations for flexible demand or additional generation capacity.
For enterprise customers, cloud and colocation decisions may therefore become more location-specific. Price and availability will remain important, but decision-makers may also need to assess tariff exposure, reliability of the power source, grid connection maturity and whether energy-related obligations are likely to be passed through to customers.
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2. Community impact may become a licence to operate
The report’s second prediction is equally significant: large data centres may increasingly need to demonstrate their local value before receiving approvals. Forrester expects community impact reviews to become a core condition for permits, grid connections and local acceptance.
Such reviews could examine electricity bills, grid upgrades, water use, land use, emissions, noise, traffic, lighting, emergency preparedness and the socioeconomic benefits offered to the surrounding community. The report points to growing scrutiny in the United States, including a one-year hyperscale data-centre moratorium announced in New York in July 2026 and disclosure requirements in Texas.
For India, where data-centre capacity is expanding alongside growing demand for AI and digital services, the lesson is clear. Project developers should not treat community engagement as a late-stage public-relations exercise. Transparent disclosure on water, energy, jobs, local infrastructure and mitigation measures can become a business advantage. Social acceptance will increasingly influence the speed and certainty of growth.
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3. Congestion pricing could reshape corporate mobility
Forrester also expects at least one other major US city to follow New York City in approving congestion pricing. The report sees road-pricing mechanisms as more than traffic-management tools. They can reduce emissions, improve air quality, support mobility and create a recurring source of funding for public transport and environmental initiatives.
For employers, this could affect office-location strategy, employee commuting, business travel and fleet management. Organisations that have treated workplace mobility as a peripheral administrative issue may need to view it as part of their sustainability and cost strategy.
Indian cities will follow their own policy pathways, but the broader signal matters. Urban mobility is becoming a measurable environmental and social issue. Companies can prepare by strengthening public-transport access, hybrid-work planning, electric mobility options and employee commuting data.
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4. Digital product passports are unlikely to disappear
The report cautions companies against assuming that European Union digital product passport requirements will be significantly delayed or weakened. Digital product passports are expected to play an important role in the EU’s Batteries Regulation and Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation.
According to Forrester, battery passports are still expected from February 2027, with other product categories to follow. Requirements may become simpler in some areas, but companies should not depend on a major rollback.
For Indian exporters selling affected products into Europe, the implication is practical: product data must become more organised, traceable and verifiable. Businesses may need stronger systems for recording materials, supply-chain origin, repairability, circularity, carbon-related information and end-of-life handling. This is not simply a regulatory task. It can also improve supplier visibility, quality control and customer confidence.
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5. Repurposed batteries may become strategic infrastructure
The fifth prediction places the circular economy directly at the heart of energy resilience. Forrester expects one global Fortune 100 company to put 100 MWh of repurposed battery capacity into use.
Second-life batteries from electric vehicles can be refurbished for stationary storage. They can support data centres and factories during peak demand, provide backup power, help balance the grid and reduce dependence on new battery materials. At the end of their usable life, recycling can recover valuable materials and strengthen domestic supply chains.
For Indian industry, the opportunity lies beyond conventional recycling. As electric-vehicle adoption grows, companies can explore safe, certified and commercially viable second-life battery systems for campuses, warehouses, renewable-energy projects and industrial facilities. However, battery health, safety standards, warranties and end-of-life accountability will be critical to building trust in this emerging market.
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The larger message for Indian business
The report does not make India-specific forecasts, but its central insight is highly relevant: there is no longer a separate digital strategy, energy strategy and sustainability strategy. They are becoming one boardroom agenda.
Indian companies adopting AI should begin mapping the energy impact of their digital workloads. Data-centre users should ask providers about grid exposure, water use, emissions, energy sourcing and community safeguards. Exporters should accelerate product-traceability systems. Manufacturers and energy-intensive businesses should assess whether second-life storage can strengthen resilience. Employers should also prepare for mobility policies that increasingly connect congestion, clean air and climate finance.
The defining sustainability question of 2027 may not be whether companies are using more technology. It may be whether they can scale technology responsibly within the real limits of energy, water, land and public trust.
