07Energy About 5 minutes
How much power do data centers use?
AI models run in data centers, and data centers draw from the grid. Make four short estimates about data-center electricity in the United States, worldwide, in a 2030 outlook and in one local case. Each reveal shows the source, year and boundary.
Question 1 of 4 · United States
1 U.S. scale · Berkeley Lab, 2024
What share of all U.S. electricity did data centers use in 2024?
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1 U.S. scale · Berkeley Lab, 2024
Berkeley Lab estimates 192 TWh, or 4.7%, in 2024. This includes all data centers, not only AI, and is modeled rather than a complete facility meter reading. Source: Berkeley Lab 2025 Update, June 2026.
2 World scale · IEA, 2024
What share of global electricity did data centers use in 2024?
This is the same year as question 1, but a separate IEA model.
2 World scale · IEA, 2024
The IEA estimates 415 TWh, or about 1.5%, worldwide in 2024. The U.S. and global percentages come from separate models. Source: IEA Energy and AI, April 2025.
3 Global outlook · IEA 2026
The IEA estimates 485 TWh worldwide in 2025. What might the total reach in 2030?
Make your own projection. The reveal shows the IEA central case.
3 Global outlook · IEA 2026
The IEA projects 950 TWh in 2030, almost twice its 2025 estimate. This is a new report vintage and a projection, not observed future use. Source: IEA Key Questions on Energy and AI, April 2026.
4 Local concentration · EIA, 2019 to 2025
How much did Virginia's commercial electricity sales rise from 2019 to 2025?
Commercial customers include more than data centers. This is a local growth indicator.
4 Local concentration · EIA, 2019 to 2025
The EIA reports a rise of nearly 30 TWh. It says data-center concentration was a major driver, alongside electric vehicles and building electrification. Commercial sales are not a data-center meter reading. The 2025 data were preliminary. Source: U.S. EIA, May 2026.
✓ Four questions complete
How your estimates compare
The four figures have different geographies and methods. The 2030 figure is a projection; Virginia commercial sales are not measured data-center use.
Explore the U.S. evidence
Berkeley Lab's U.S. Reference Case projects 649 TWh in 2030, within a 521 to 843 TWh uncertainty range. These are modeled possibilities, not measurements.
Solid point: modeled 2024 estimate. Dashed line and open points: Reference Case projections. Band: combined uncertainty range for 2030.
Retail electricity sales in your state, terawatt hours
Measured state retail sales provide scale only. These sources do not report data-center electricity use for every state.
Sources and method
- Default source. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, United States Data Center Energy Usage Report: 2025 Update, LBNL-2001758, June 2026, escholarship.org/uc/item/33m6w3x0 (DOI 10.71468/P1RP4F). Licensed CC BY 4.0. Figures from pages 7, 8, 9, 10 and 24 of the report (PDF pages 11 to 14 and 28). The 2024 figure is a modeled estimate; 2028 and 2030 figures are Reference Case projections, and the 2030 range combines the report's uncertainty scenarios. The 2030 share uses the report's denominator, forecast U.S. electricity use from the 2025 NERC Long-Term Reliability Assessment.
- Superseded, dated comparison. Arman Shehabi, Sarah J. Smith, Alex Hubbard, Alex Newkirk, Nuoa Lei, Md Abu Bakar Siddik, Billie Holecek, Jonathan Koomey, Eric Masanet and Dale Sartor, 2024 United States Data Center Energy Usage Report, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, LBNL-2001637, December 2024, escholarship.org/uc/item/32d6m0d1. Figures from the executive summary (PDF pages 7 and 8) and section 4 (PDF page 38). Replaced as the default on September 27, 2026 by the 2025 Update.
- International Energy Agency, Energy and AI, April 2025, iea.org/reports/energy-and-ai. Licensed CC BY 4.0. Used for world totals only (PDF pages 14 and 63).
- International Energy Agency, Key Questions on Energy and AI, April 2026, IEA executive summary. Separate global 2025 estimate and 2030 central outlook.
- U.S. Energy Information Administration, Commercial electricity sales have soared in Virginia, driven by data centers, May 5, 2026. Commercial sales rose by nearly 30 million MWh between 2019 and 2025. The 2025 data were preliminary and include customers beyond data centers.
- U.S. Energy Information Administration, Form EIA-861 historical data, retail sales by state and sector, 2010 to 2024 (file HS861 2010-.xlsx), eia.gov/electricity/data/state. Public domain.
Method. Berkeley Lab report figures are quoted from the report text and checked against the PDF during data preparation. IEA figures are quoted from the linked report pages; the Virginia figure is quoted from the linked EIA article. Modeled historical estimates, projections and measured statistics are labeled separately. Data center electricity includes all data centers, of which AI servers are one part. U.S. shares are never combined with International Energy Agency global projections. State values are measured retail sales to all customers and to commercial customers (2024 data), converted from megawatt hours to terawatt hours, and are context only. Change log: September 27, 2026, default source changed from the December 2024 Report (2023: 176 TWh, 4.4 percent; 2028 range 325 to 580 TWh) to the June 2026 Update (2024: 192 TWh, 4.7 percent); the guess question changed from 2023 to 2024.