Data Centers and Their Energy Consumption
AI Is Increasing Energy Demands That Threaten Local Utilities
Data center annual energy use in the U.S. in 2023 (not accounting for cryptocurrency) was approximately 176 terawatt-hours (TWh), approximately 4.4% of U.S. annual electricity consumption that year. Some projections show that data center energy consumption could double or triple by 2028, accounting for up to 12% of U.S. electricity use. Data centers provide information technology (IT) infrastructure services for processing large amounts of data, such as for the rapidly growing field of artificial intelligence (AI). Roughly one-half or greater of the electric power demand of data centers stems directly from the operation of IT equipment. Much of the rest…
