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Data centers need large amounts of electricity because the whole facility is the load, not just the computers inside it. Servers, storage and networking do the computing, but cooling, power conversion, battery backup and standby generators also draw power, and much of that equipment must run continuously. AI has steepened the outlook because the International Energy Agency (IEA) expects accelerated, AI-oriented servers to grow far faster than conventional ones. Utilities respond with a portfolio of measures: new generation and storage, grid and transmission work, efficiency and demand flexibility, and changes to planning, rates and interconnection rules. The harder question is rarely the national or global total. It is whether a specific large load can be served reliably, in a specific place, at a specific time.
What a data center’s electricity pays for
A data center’s electricity use covers the whole facility. The IEA’s accounting of data-center demand includes the following components:
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- Servers and accelerated servers. These are the central computing hardware. Accelerated servers are the systems most closely associated with AI workloads.
- Storage and networking equipment. These hold data and move it between systems.
- Cooling. Cooling removes the heat produced by IT equipment.
- UPS batteries. These carry the load through short interruptions until backup generators start or utility power returns.
- Backup generators. These take over during longer outages.
- Other facility infrastructure. The IEA counts this as a separate contributor to demand growth.
The split among these components varies by facility type and by installed equipment. Neither the IEA’s 2025 analysis nor the DOE overview cited here gives a single universal breakdown, so any single percentage for cooling or computing should be treated as a facility-specific figure unless its method is published.
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Growth is not uniform across the equipment base. In the IEA’s Base Case, electricity use by accelerated servers grows by about 30% per year through 2030, while conventional servers grow by about 9% per year. These are model projections from the IEA’s 2025 Energy and AI demand analysis, not measurements of any particular facility.
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| Equipment category | IEA Base Case electricity growth through 2030 | What it means for planners |
|---|---|---|
| Accelerated servers (AI-oriented) | About 30% per year | The steepest growth rate in the IEA’s projection, and the main reason the outlook has changed. |
| Conventional servers | About 9% per year | Continued growth alongside accelerated capacity, at a slower rate. |
| Other IT equipment and facility infrastructure | Growth attributed by the IEA; annual rate not stated in the cited analysis | Adds demand beyond server growth, so accelerated servers are not the whole explanation. |
Source: IEA, Energy and AI: Energy demand from AI (2025).
How to read the projection
- The IEA states that there is substantial uncertainty in current and future data-center electricity consumption.
- Its outcomes depend on assumptions about efficiency, the pace of AI adoption and bottlenecks in the energy sector. The IEA models these as different cases and provides sensitivity cases alongside its Base Case.
- The Base Case is one scenario. It is not a forecast that every country or region will follow.
Global and U.S. figures measure different things
The two most-cited sets of estimates come from different organizations, geographies and methods. The table below keeps them separate.
| Measure | IEA (global, 2025 analysis) | Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) report, as summarized by DOE on December 20, 2024 (United States) |
|---|---|---|
| Scope | Global data-center electricity consumption, scenario-based | U.S. data-center electricity use |
| Consumption | About 415 TWh in 2024 | 176 TWh in 2023, up from 58 TWh in 2014 |
| Share of total electricity | Not stated in the cited IEA demand analysis | About 4.4% of U.S. electricity in 2023 |
| Projection | About 945 TWh in 2030 (Base Case) | 325 to 580 TWh in 2028 |
| Projected share | Data centers account for less than 10% of global electricity-demand growth between 2024 and 2030 (Base Case) | About 6.7% to 12% of U.S. electricity by 2028 |
Sources: IEA demand analysis (2025) and U.S. Department of Energy release of December 20, 2024, which summarizes the LBNL report. The two sets of figures use different geography, methods and horizons (2028 for LBNL, 2030 for the IEA), so they should not be joined into one time series without checking each report’s definitions.
The same DOE release quotes then-Energy Secretary Jennifer M. Granholm: “We can meet this growth with clean energy.” That is an official’s statement of policy direction. It is not an independent finding that every region can meet projected demand with clean energy on a particular timeline.
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Why a small national share can strain a local grid
A load can be a small fraction of national electricity use and still be large relative to the substations, transmission lines and generation serving one region. Data-center loads tend to cluster in particular places, which is why the national share is a poor guide to local stress. DOE notes that load size, latency constraints and continuous operation can all affect regional grids. The IEA also points out that other drivers, including industrial growth, electrification, electric vehicles and air conditioning, contribute to demand growth alongside data centers.
How utilities plan for a large load
Planning for data centers goes beyond annual energy totals. DOE describes data-center growth as geographically variable. For each proposed facility, a utility or grid planner has to work through four questions:
- Will the load materialize? A forecast can include projects that are never built. The sources cited here do not establish how likely any announced project is to be completed.
- Where will it connect? The connection point determines which lines, substations and generation resources are affected.
- How quickly does it arrive? Timing determines whether generation and grid upgrades can be in place when the load starts drawing power.
- Can firm power and the grid serve it reliably? A continuous load needs supply that is available in the hours it runs, not only a matching amount of energy over a full year.
The response portfolio DOE describes
DOE’s overview groups utility and policy responses into a portfolio. Each item below is an approach on the menu. None is a guarantee that it suits, or has been approved for, a given location.
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DOE describes deploying rapidly scalable solar, wind and batteries, while pursuing clean firm resources such as next-generation geothermal and nuclear. DOE’s clean energy overview covers these options.
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Existing nuclear and hydropower, and retired plant sites
DOE describes using existing nuclear and hydropower infrastructure and considering reuse of retired power-plant sites. Each option depends on the specific plant or site, and the overview does not assess individual candidates.
Grid expansion and optimization
DOE describes enhancing and expanding grid infrastructure and improving how the existing system performs.
Efficiency and demand flexibility
DOE describes improving data-center energy efficiency and using demand-side flexibility to lower peaks or shift some consumption to other times.
Planning, rates, financing and regulatory reform
DOE describes proactive planning, consideration of rate structures and financing approaches, and work on interconnection and regulatory barriers. DOE’s Electricity Demand Growth Resource Hub collects related material.
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Transmission: the wires question
DOE’s National Transmission Needs Study was released in draft for public comment on July 9, 2026. It frames transmission as serving three purposes: reliability, connecting new generation and new load, and relieving congestion. DOE says the study assesses national needs and informs decisions. It does not replace existing transmission planning and does not choose specific solutions. The study overview sets out its scope.
The same DOE overview reports that the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) approved the largest transmission portfolio undertaken in the United States in 2024. That is a regional planning decision. The overview does not tie that portfolio to data-center demand, so it should not be read as a data-center-specific plan.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Supply mix: there is no single answer
The IEA’s 2025 Base Case projects that renewables meet nearly half of incremental global data-center electricity demand through 2030. Natural gas and coal together meet more than 40% of that additional demand, and nuclear is projected to become increasingly important toward the end of the decade and beyond. That combination points to a near-term tension between serving load quickly and aligning supply with emissions goals. Outcomes differ by region and scenario, so the global mix should not be applied to a specific grid. The IEA’s supply analysis gives the regional detail.
| Supply option | What the cited sources say | Trade-offs to check |
|---|---|---|
| Solar, wind and batteries | DOE: rapidly scalable. IEA: renewables meet nearly half of incremental global demand to 2030 (Base Case). | Output varies with weather and time of day. Storage duration and the load’s round-the-clock operation determine how much can be relied on. |
| Natural gas and coal | IEA: together more than 40% of incremental global demand to 2030 (Base Case). | Emissions profile conflicts with emissions goals. Cost and build time for a given plant: not stated in the cited sources. |
| Existing nuclear | DOE: use of existing nuclear infrastructure. IEA: increasingly important toward the end of the decade and beyond. | Availability depends on existing plant capacity and location. Cost of extending plant life: not stated in the cited sources. |
| Next-generation geothermal and new nuclear | DOE: pursued as clean firm resources. | Build timelines and local siting: not stated in the cited DOE overview. |
| Retired plant sites | DOE: reuse considered. | Site suitability, transmission access and permitting depend on the specific site. |
| Demand flexibility | DOE: used to lower peaks or shift some consumption. | Depends on how much of a facility’s load can move without affecting service. Not stated for specific facilities. |
When comparing options, use these axes rather than a single ranking:
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- INSTALLS IN CIRCUIT PANEL of most homes with clamp-on sensors. Supports Single phase, Single-split phase, and 2-wire systems. 3-wire systems; 3-phase, 4-wire Wye systems with earthed (TN or TT) neutral (no-Delta) are supported with an additional 200A sensor (sold separately).
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- LOWER YOUR ELECTRIC BILL: Configure settings in the Emporia Energy App to automate energy management for time of use, peak demand, excess solar, and rewards programs. You can even see live reporting and invaluable savings opportunities instantly. Gauge real-time spending and get actionable notifications and automated energy management to help you reduce costs.
- REAL-TIME ENERGY DATA: REQUIRES 2.4 GHz WIFI WITH AN INTERNET CONNECTION to monitor energy use with iPhone / Android / Web app. Vue sensors collect energy data and are accurate from ±2%. The Vue is UL and CE Listed for your safety. 1 second data is only available in the app (when actively open) and retained 3 hours. Minute and hour data are retained in the cloud. 1 minute data is retained 7 days, 1 hour data is retained indefinitely. Export cloud data whenever you want in the app.
- Time to connect or build
- Reliability and firmness
- Location and grid capacity
- Ability to shift or curtail load
- Cost and who bears it
- Emissions profile
The cited DOE overview does not give comparable local cost estimates, so a ranking of technologies would not be supported by these sources.
What the sources do not settle
The cited sources leave several questions open, and headline numbers should not be stretched to answer them:
- The accuracy of individual utility load forecasts.
- The probability that announced data-center projects will be built.
- Who pays for specific local grid upgrades, and what that means for ratepayers in a given area.
Answering those questions requires current, jurisdiction-specific utility filings, regulator decisions and project records.
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Checking a specific project or claim
- Identify the utility or grid operator that serves the site. Then determine whether the figure you are reading is a national estimate, a regional plan or a single project.
- Find the utility’s load forecast or large-load filing with the regulator that has jurisdiction over it. In U.S. states this is usually a public utility commission.
- Check whether that regulator has approved the specific connection, rate arrangement or upgrade, and what conditions it attached.
- For transmission or generation claims, confirm which body approved the project and whether it is approved, under construction, in service or still only proposed.
Global and national outlooks tell you how fast demand may grow. Only the regulatory record for a specific project tells you whether it has been approved.
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