Global data center electricity consumption is forecast to exceed 1,000 terawatt-hours in 2026, according to International Energy Agency analysis. At that scale the sector consumes roughly as much electricity as the entire country of Japan.

The trajectory has steepened sharply. Data centers used approximately 415 terawatt-hours in 2024, about 1.5 percent of global electricity consumption, after growing at a compound rate near 12 percent per year over the preceding five years. The IEA base case projects consumption reaching around 945 terawatt-hours by 2030, a doubling from the 2024 level.

United States facilities account for a large share of the increase. IEA figures place domestic data center electricity demand above 200 terawatt-hours in 2025 and above 250 terawatt-hours in 2026. Measured in capacity terms, United States data center load rose from 23 gigawatts in 2023 to 42 gigawatts in 2026.

Gartner projects data center electricity consumption growth of 26 percent during 2026 alone.

Rack density explains part of the jump independent of facility count. AI training and inference racks draw 50 to 100 kilowatts each, against 5 to 10 kilowatts for conventional server racks, which changes both the power delivery design and the cooling load per square foot of white space.

Source: International Energy Agency - https://www.iea.org/reports/electricity-2026/demand