U.S. Data Center Energy Use Could Reach 818 Billion kWh by 2050

U.S. Data Center Server Energy Use Could Reach 818 Billion kWh Across Commercial Buildings – EIA

Electricity demand from U.S. data center servers is expected to rise sharply over the coming decades as artificial intelligence and cloud computing continue to expand. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) Annual Energy Outlook 2026, server electricity consumption could reach between 446 billion and 818 billion kilowatt-hours (BkWh) by 2050, depending on future AI adoption and electricity demand.

The EIA estimates that servers accounted for about 7% of commercial-sector electricity consumption in 2025. That share is projected to increase to between 22% and 33% by 2050. Standalone data centers are expected to account for the largest portion of this growth as AI infrastructure continues to expand across the United States.

The report also projects that commercial buildings will become more energy intensive than ever before. By 2031 and 2032, electricity use per square foot is expected to exceed the previous record set in 2003. The increase is largely attributed to power-hungry AI servers and the additional cooling equipment required to keep them operating efficiently.

Cooling remains one of the largest energy challenges for modern data centers. The EIA estimates that cooling data center space can be up to 2.9 times more energy intensive than cooling other commercial buildings. In its High Electricity Demand scenario, cooling alone is projected to consume an additional 84 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity in 2050 compared with the baseline case.

Although future servers are expected to become more efficient, the rapid deployment of AI hardware is projected to outweigh those gains. In the EIA’s high-demand scenario, AI servers make up a growing share of installed systems, causing total electricity consumption to continue rising through 2050 despite improvements in computing efficiency.

The broader U.S. power system is already responding to this trend. The EIA forecasts record national electricity consumption in 2026 and 2027, driven mainly by AI data centers, cryptocurrency operations, and increasing electrification across homes and businesses. Commercial electricity sales are also expected to surpass residential demand for the first time.

The new projections highlight how artificial intelligence is reshaping the nation’s energy landscape. As technology companies continue investing billions of dollars in AI infrastructure, utilities and grid operators are expected to expand power generation, transmission, and cooling capacity to support the next generation of high-performance data centers.

Sources:

• U.S. Energy Information Administration – 2026
• Commercial Buildings Energy Consumption Survey (CBECS)
• Annual Energy Outlook 2026 (AEO2026) Counterfactual Baseline and High Electricity Demand cases