"Estimates vary widely, but the Lawrence Berkeley National Lab anticipates that the share of electricity production in the U.S. used by data centers could spike from 4.4% in 2023 to between 6.7% and 12% by 2028. PJM expects a peak load growth of 32 gigawatts by 2030 - enough power to supply 30 million new homes, but nearly all going to new data centers."
"The race to build new data centers and find the electricity to power them has sparked enormous public backlash about how data centers will inflate household energy costs. Other concerns are that power-hungry data centers fed by natural gas generators can hurt air quality, consume water and intensify climate damage. Many data centers are located, or proposed, in communities already burdened by high levels of pollution."
Data centers consume large and growing quantities of electricity, with AI workloads pushing demand higher and raising prices on congested grids like PJM. Lawrence Berkeley National Lab projects data centers' share of U.S. electricity could rise from 4.4% in 2023 to between 6.7% and 12% by 2028. PJM expects peak load growth of about 32 gigawatts by 2030, driven mostly by new data centers. Expansion has provoked public backlash over household energy costs and raised concerns about air quality, water use and climate impacts in already polluted communities. Local ordinances, state regulators and proposed federal laws aim to protect ratepayers and require data centers to fund needed transmission and generation. Many facilities request near-continuous power, while utilities offer demand-response incentives to reduce usage during peaks.
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