Fact of the Week: Data Centers Are Projected To Consume Up To 9 Percent of US Electricity Generation by 2030

Source: Department of Energy (DOE), "Clean Energy Resources to Meet Data Center Electricity Demand," (Washington, DC: DOE, August 2024).

Commentary: The construction and deployment of new data centers, driven by the growth of the cloud and AI, is expected to put a significant strain on the electrical grid. An estimate from the Electric Power Research Institute approximates that the demand of electricity by these centers will increase from 4 percent to 9 percent of total electricity by 2030. This demand comes as other industries historically powered by fossil fuels, such as heating and transportation, are electrifying, placing an additional burden on the grid. The DOE estimates that the total energy demand will grow between 15 and 20 percent in the next decade. In order to power this mass electrification, power grids will need to be expanded, energy efficiency measures will need to be improved, and other energy technologies, such as nuclear, will need to be deployed.