Data Centers Projected to Quadruple Electricity Use by 2035

By Priya Anand

Data centers worldwide are projected to consume up to four times more electricity by 2035, according to a TechCrunch report. This increase could result in new data centers using as much electricity as India currently consumes.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) reports that global data-center electricity consumption was approximately 415 terawatt-hours (TWh) in 2024, accounting for about 1.5% of global electricity usage. This figure is expected to rise to around 1,200 TWh by 2035, aligning with TechCrunch's projections.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) supports this trend, projecting significant growth in electricity consumption by data-center servers, potentially reaching between 446 and 818 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) by 2050.

Further illustrating the scale, OpenAI's planned AI data-center capacity target of 250 gigawatts by 2033 would require electricity comparable to powering all of India, reinforcing the potential magnitude of future data-center energy demands.