AI's Energy Demand
From 1.5% of world electricity toward — how much? The load-growth question.
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Data centers used ~415 TWh in 2024 (~1.5% of global electricity, IEA); the IEA's base case nearly doubles that by 2030 with AI the main driver, and US utilities tore up flat-demand forecasts for the first time in decades. The binding constraints are grid interconnection queues, turbine and transformer lead times — not fuel. Whether efficiency (better chips, smarter models) tempers or, via Jevons effects, amplifies demand is the live uncertainty every scenario hinges on.
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Sources
Record reviewed as of 2026-01-15 — see Methodology.