United States data centers consume approximately 176 terawatt-hours of electricity annually, representing 4.4% of all US electricity demand, with more than 700 new facilities under active construction across 38 states as of 2026, according to data from the International Energy Agency and industry sources.

Key US data center electricity and infrastructure statistics for 2026:

- Annual US data center electricity consumption: 176 TWh (4.4% of total US electricity) - Operational US data center facilities: approximately 4,500+ - New facilities under construction: 700+ across 38 states - Current peak power draw of the entire US data center sector: approximately 15 gigawatts - Projected US data center electricity demand by 2030: 400 to 600 TWh annually - Average grid interconnection wait time in primary markets: more than 4 years - Percentage of US power grid approaching end of operational life: approximately 70% - Microsoft disclosed $80 billion in unmet Azure orders due to power constraints

The IEA's annual Data Centres and Data Transmission Networks report tracks global energy consumption from digital infrastructure. The 2026 edition documents the acceleration in demand growth driven by AI training and inference workloads, which require significantly more power per server rack than traditional cloud computing applications.

Data centers in the Southeast US are increasingly co-locating near planned and operational nuclear power plants to secure long-term baseload electricity access, a trend accelerating in Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina.

Source: IEA -- https://www.iea.org/energy-system/buildings/data-centres