BNEF: US data centres could consume 20% of electricity by 2035

Data centres in the United States could account for about 20% of the country’s electricity consumption by 2035, up from 5.9% currently, according to BloombergNEF (BNEF).

The figure is expected to reach about 12% by 2030, BNEF said in a July 20 report. States such as Virginia and Texas, where data centres are heavily concentrated, are projected to see an even larger share of electricity consumed by the facilities.

BNEF forecasts that US data centre power demand will reach 194 gigawatts by 2035, an 83% increase from its December forecast, driven by the growing number of artificial intelligence facilities expected to be built over the next decade.

“Every coal plant, every gas plant, every solar farm in the US — one unit of energy out of five generated by them is going to data centres,” said Lloyd Arnold, a BNEF analyst and report co-author. “So that’s the same energy that’s going to be going into powering electric vehicles, powering cities, et cetera.”

Rising demand from AI data centres is already putting pressure on US electricity grids after two decades of largely stagnant load growth. Operators and developers are seeking alternative ways to power large facilities, while projects face permitting restrictions and opposition over their energy requirements and environmental impact.

“We’re already seeing the grid struggling to keep up, and that’s driving a change in how assets connect to the grid,” Arnold said.

BNEF said data centres served by PJM Interconnection, which covers 13 states including Northern Virginia’s Data Centre Alley, and the Electric Reliability Council of Texas are expected to account for an above-average share of annual electricity consumption by 2035.

The record for data centre capacity connected to the US grid in a single year is 7.1 gigawatts, according to BNEF. Even if that pace is maintained, analysts project a 19-gigawatt shortfall by 2035 under their base-case scenario, despite additional on-site gas generation.

By Sabina Mammadli