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Data centers use a modest share of electricity worldwide, but their fast-growing demand is concentrated in particular regions and can put much greater pressure on nearby grids. AI is an important driver of that growth, not the only one: conventional computing, storage, cooling and other facility systems also use substantial power.
How much energy do data centers use globally?
The International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates that data centers consumed about 415 terawatt-hours (TWh) of electricity worldwide in 2024—around 1.5% of global electricity use. A terawatt-hour is one billion kilowatt-hours. The IEA’s outlook points to significant growth, but its figures for future years are scenarios, not measured outcomes or guarantees.
| IEA global estimate or scenario | Electricity use | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 estimate | About 415 TWh; around 1.5% of world electricity consumption | Historical estimate in the IEA’s 2025 Energy and AI report. |
| 2030 Base Case | About 945 TWh | IEA projection, dependent on assumptions including AI adoption, efficiency gains and power-system constraints. |
| 2035 Base Case | About 1,200 TWh | IEA projection, not a prediction that demand must reach this level. |
| 2035 scenario range | 700–1,700 TWh | IEA scenarios span this range; its High Efficiency Case is 20% below the Base Case. |
The scale of the forecast range is a useful reminder that data-center electricity demand is not settled in advance. How quickly AI use expands, how efficiently equipment is used, and whether power infrastructure can keep pace all affect the outcome. The IEA estimates that worldwide data-center electricity use grew around 12% per year from 2017 to 2024.
How does the U.S. estimate compare?
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) estimate U.S. data centers consumed 192 TWh in 2024, equal to 4.7% of U.S. electricity use. Their 2025 report gives a 2030 reference case and a wider uncertainty range:
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| DOE/LBNL U.S. estimate or scenario | Electricity use | Qualification |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 estimate | 192 TWh; 4.7% of U.S. electricity consumption | DOE/LBNL estimate in the 2025 update. |
| 2030 reference case | 649 TWh; 11.8% of forecast U.S. electricity use | DOE/LBNL projection, not a guaranteed outcome. |
| 2030 compounded uncertainty range | 521–843 TWh | DOE/LBNL range reflecting uncertainty in the 2030 estimate. |
The global IEA estimates and U.S. DOE/LBNL figures have different geographic scopes and methods, so they should not be treated as one directly comparable series. The DOE/LBNL report also excludes cryptocurrency-mining energy from its U.S. data-center scope.
What uses electricity inside a data center?
A data center is more than its servers. Its electrical load can include storage and network equipment, cooling and environmental controls, uninterruptible power supplies, backup generators and other building infrastructure.
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- Servers: The IEA says servers average around 60% of electricity demand in modern data centers, though the share varies by facility.
- Cooling: The IEA estimates cooling accounts for about 7% of electricity use in efficient hyperscale facilities, but can exceed 30% in less-efficient enterprise data centers. Those figures describe different kinds of facilities; neither is a universal rate.
- Other IT and facility systems: Storage, networking, power equipment and environmental controls add to the load, with their contribution depending on the facility and its operation.
How much electricity does AI use?
The available estimates show AI’s importance as a driver of future demand, but they do not establish a general figure for the electricity used by an individual AI query or the total share of current data-center electricity attributable to AI.
In its outlook, the IEA attributes almost half of the net increase in global data-center electricity use through 2030 to accelerated servers, largely associated with AI adoption. Conventional servers contribute around one-fifth of that net increase; other IT equipment and facility infrastructure account for additional portions. These are shares of projected growth, not shares of all electricity consumed by data centers.
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AI is therefore part of a broader change in computing demand, rather than a separate load that can be considered in isolation. The IEA outlook includes enterprise, colocation and hyperscale facilities as well as both AI-related and non-AI equipment.
Are data centers increasing electricity demand on local grids?
Yes. A worldwide share can look modest while individual regions face a much larger new load. The IEA’s 2025 report attributes 45% of global data-center electricity use in 2024 to the United States, 25% to China and 15% to Europe. Within countries, facilities are clustered in particular areas, so their effect depends on where they connect and whether local power infrastructure can serve them.
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DOE describes data-center demand as rapidly growing, regionally variable and often continuous. Some facilities also have latency requirements that limit how readily their workloads can move elsewhere. This makes local grid capacity, planned generation and transmission, and the timing of new projects central to whether growth can be accommodated reliably.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What can reduce the impact of data-center growth?
There is no single substitute for planning: options work at different scales and come with different constraints. DOE materials identify facility efficiency and a portfolio of generation, storage and grid measures as parts of the response.
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Use less electricity per unit of computing
Facility operators can assess equipment, cooling, metering and design. DOE’s Federal Energy Management Program maintains data-center efficiency resources, including a revised 2024 design best-practices guide, metering and resource guidance, cooling resources and efficiency tools. Better efficiency can reduce the power needed to deliver a given service, though overall demand can still grow if computing use expands faster.
Match power supply to the location and operating needs
DOE lists solar, land-based wind, existing nuclear and hydropower, and possible next-generation geothermal and nuclear among clean-energy options relevant to data-center demand. They are not interchangeable: reliability and dispatchability, emissions, cost, water implications and project lead times differ, and availability depends on the location.
Use storage, flexibility and grid planning
Battery storage, flexible demand and grid expansion can help address when and where electricity is needed. Their usefulness depends on local grid capacity, reliability requirements and the time needed to build or upgrade infrastructure. DOE presents them as elements of a broader response rather than solutions that will fit every facility or region.
DOE’s efficiency and clean-energy resources identify water as a consideration for data-center planning, but the estimates cited here do not establish a comparable total for water use. Electricity consumption alone therefore cannot describe every local resource impact.
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