&imwidth=800&imheight=600&format=webp&quality=medium "AI boom could make data centres consume one-third of commercial electricity by 2050: EIA")
The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) has confirmed that electricity consumption by data centre servers is expected to rise sharply in the coming decades, along with the rise of electricity consumption, which is expected to account for 22 per cent to 33 per cent of commercial buildings by 2050.
In the Annual Energy Outlook 2026 (AEO2026), the EIA said electricity consumed by data centre servers will continuously increase across the commercial building sector, with the strongest growth projected in standalone data centres as compared to other combined data centre rooms. It stated, "Data centre server electricity use grows to 22 per cent-33 per cent of commercial building electricity use by 2050 across our cases".
The report estimated that electricity consumption by servers alone could rise to between 446 billion kilowatt-hours (BkWh) and 818 billion BkWh by 2050 under various scenarios. The upper-end projection assumes a more rapid increase in server power demand and installed server capacity under the High Electricity Demand scenario.
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Electricity demand from AI infrastructure
According to the outlook, standalone data centres, classified under the “other buildings” segment, could consume 581 BkWh of electricity from servers alone by 2050 in the High Electricity Demand scenario. The report noted that servers accounted for nearly 7 per cent of total commercial-sector electricity consumption in 2025, but the rapid expansion of servers, especially those supporting AI infrastructure, is expected to sharply increase energy demand in the years ahead.
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The US Energy Information Administration said commercial-sector electricity intensity, measured in kilowatt-hours used per square foot, is projected to surpass the previous record of 14.9 kWh per square foot set in 2003. The new peak is expected to occur between 2031 and 2032.
The report linked the rise in commercial energy intensity primarily to data centre servers and the supporting cooling and ventilation systems needed to keep them operational. According to the agency, data centres require highly energy-intensive cooling mechanisms to ensure chips and IT equipment function efficiently. It is estimated that cooling requirements in data centre spaces can be up to 2.9 times more energy-intensive than those in typical commercial buildings.
