Why faster Standards favour geared turbines

Could the turbo-electric U.S. Standard battleships be scaled to 28 or 32 knots?

They could be reconsidered, but geared turbines would probably be more efficient at those speeds.

At 28 to 32 knots, geared turbines would probably be more efficient than enlarged turbo-electric machinery. Turbo-electric drive suited the existing Standard-type battleships and their operating requirements. Raising speed changes the power demand enough to reopen the propulsion choice. A machinery arrangement that works well in one speed regime may not scale cleanly into another.