The Rising Electricity Bill of Artificial Intelligence
As AI adoption accelerates globally, the energy footprint of data centers is becoming one of the biggest challenges for utilities and cloud providers. The International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates global data center electricity usage will nearly double by 2030, reaching about 945 TWh. That is slightly more than Japan’s total electricity consumption today.
In the United States, data centers alone are expected to drive nearly half of all electricity demand growth through 2030. BloombergNEF forecasts U.S. data center power load to surge from 35 GW in 2024 to 78 GW by 2035. Actual hourly consumption could almost triple during the same period as AI compute workloads scale.
This rapid growth is forcing hyperscalers and operators to secure long-term power supply agreements and redesign energy strategy from the ground up. AI-driven infrastructure is shifting the grid from traditional industrial demand toward always-on compute power.
✅ Key Takeaways
- AI compute is now one of the largest emerging electricity consumers
- Grid capacity and permitting delays may slow data center growth
- Utilities are shifting toward nuclear, renewables and storage for reliability
- Power availability will define where AI infrastructure is built next
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