U.S. Data Center Electricity Demand Projection Jumps 36% Amid AI Boom
December 1, 2025
The explosive growth of artificial intelligence is forcing a major reassessment of the data center industry's future strain on the U.S. power grid, with new research indicating electricity needs are accelerating far faster than recent estimates. The surge in demand poses significant challenges for grid planners and utilities, highlighting a critical intersection of technological advancement and national infrastructure capacity.
According to a report released Monday by research firm BloombergNEF, electricity demand from U.S. data centers over the next decade is now projected to be 36 percent higher than the firm forecast just a few months ago in April. This substantial revision is driven by an unprecedented wave of new project announcements and the adoption of more energy-intensive computing infrastructure required for AI workloads. The findings are particularly notable as BloombergNEF's estimates have historically been more conservative than those of the federal government and other analysts.
The report identifies more than 140 newly announced data center projects over the past several months as a key driver of the revised outlook. Consequently, power demand from data centers by 2030 is now estimated to be 21 percent higher than previous forecasts. Looking further ahead, the analysis projects that AI-related power demand alone will surge by 106 gigawatts by 2035, a significant increase from the 78 gigawatts estimated in April. The report warns that "grid tipping points are already emerging," with the nation's largest grid operator, PJM Interconnection, expected to face a power capacity squeeze by the end of this decade.
This rapid scaling underscores a fundamental shift in the industry. As the report states, "Data centers are rapidly scaling in size to meet compute intensity." The updated projections signal that the AI-driven transformation of the digital economy is happening at a pace that is outstripping earlier expectations, forcing energy planners to urgently reconsider long-term capacity and reliability strategies for the national grid.
Source: politicopro
New Analysis Shows U.S. Data Center Power Demand Forecast Revised Sharply Upward
