Charts
AI data centers by the numbers
Data-center electricity figures from official agencies, plus announced AI data-center projects from Confirmed stories in our feed. Each chart lists its source and the date we checked it.
Checked Oct 11, 2026
Official national and global figures
Copied from each agency’s own page. Projections are labeled as projections; ranges show both ends.
Global data-centre electricity use (TWh)
IEA estimate for 2024 and its Base Case projection for 2030. IEA says 415 TWh is about 1.5% of global electricity use, and 945 TWh would be just under 3% in 2030.
Source (checked Oct 11, 2026): International Energy Agency (IEA), Energy and AI: Energy demand from AI
U.S. data-center electricity use (TWh)
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory’s 2024 United States Data Center Energy Usage Report, for the U.S. Department of Energy. 2023 was about 4.4% of U.S. electricity; 2028 is a range (6.7% to 12%).
Source (checked Oct 11, 2026): Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (U.S. DOE), Berkeley Lab Report Evaluates Increase in Electricity Demand from Data Centers
U.S. data-center servers, share of commercial-sector electricity (%)
U.S. Energy Information Administration, Annual Energy Outlook 2026. Servers alone (not cooling) were an estimated 7% of commercial electricity use in 2025; by 2050 EIA projects 22% to 33% depending on the case.
Source (checked Oct 11, 2026): U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), Data center server energy use grows across the commercial building stock (May 19, 2026)
U.S. data-center server electricity in 2050, EIA range (billion kWh)
EIA’s Annual Energy Outlook 2026 projection for server electricity alone in 2050, across its cases (the high end is its High Electricity Demand case).
Source (checked Oct 11, 2026): U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), Data center server energy use grows across the commercial building stock (May 19, 2026)
EU data-centre electricity use (TWh)
European Commission report COM(2026) 500 on the energy efficiency of data centres in the EU (Sept 21, 2026). It gives 68 TWh for 2024 and expects 114 TWh by 2030, 3.2% of EU electricity demand; the report cites the IEA for these figures.
Source (checked Oct 11, 2026): European Commission (via the Council of the EU register), Report from the Commission on the energy efficiency of data centres in the EU, COM(2026) 500 final (Council doc. 13443/26)
Announced projects from our news feed
Announced AI data-center projects, planned power (MW)
Peak planned capacity, as each company or official announced it. These are plans, not power in use today.
Sources (checked Oct 10, 2026): NPR · The Times-Picayune / NOLA.com · Black Hills Corp. (GlobeNewswire) · Applied Digital (GlobeNewswire) · TeraWulf (GlobeNewswire) · Planning Geek · Sesterce · JERA · Yonhap News Agency · Reuters (via The Star) · CoreWeave (Business Wire, via StockTitan) · atNorth (press release)
New power contracted for data centers (MW)
Power-supply deals tied to data centers, as the utilities and companies announced them.
Sources (checked Oct 10, 2026): Constellation Energy · Michigan Public Service Commission · Black Hills Corp. (GlobeNewswire) · We Energies
When large power users face special grid rules (MW threshold)
The size at which a site falls under new large-load rules.
Sources (checked Oct 10, 2026): The Texas Dispatch · Duke Energy
EU data-center electricity use (TWh)
European Commission totals cited by POLITICO, which notes they come from incomplete data. The 2024 figure is our estimate, worked back from the reported 26% increase.
Sources (checked Oct 10, 2026): POLITICO