Data centers use more power in the US than in any other country

This article is part of our ​“Chart of the Week” series.

Data centers use more electricity in the U.S. than in any other country — China included.

In 2025, nearly 40% of all power demand from data centers came from facilities based in the U.S., according to this year’s Statistical Review of World Energy from the Energy Institute. It’s the first year the sweeping annual report has tracked data center demand, a sign of how central the question of powering these massive facilities has become.

To put that electricity use in perspective: American data centers alone consumed nearly 313 terawatt-hours last year, per the report — more than Australia, Italy, Spain, or the United Kingdom generated to power their entire economies.

This electricity demand has been driven by deep-pocketed Silicon Valley firms racing to build out data centers that can give them an edge in the AI race. Between 2022, when OpenAI shook the world with its release of the ChatGPT 3.5 model, and 2025, global data center power demand grew by 59%.

And it’s only expected to keep climbing. Demand in the U.S. could nearly triple by 2030, according to S&P Global — though estimates vary widely, and some analysts caution that a meaningful share of planned projects may be delayed or never get built.

Still, even conservative estimates find that data center power demand will remain high — and the prospect of yet more growth has spurred urgent conversations across the U.S.

Consumer advocates fear that without stronger regulation, ordinary Americans will be left covering the cost of the strain that data centers put on the grid. And climate advocates worry that, despite the climate goals of Big Tech firms, some new demand will be met with natural gas — a trend that would drive up carbon emissions and local air pollution.