RESEARCH
Global Data Centers Hit 415 TWh in 2024 as AI Workloads Drive Record Energy Demand
Global data centers consumed approximately 415 terawatt-hours of electricity in 2024 — about 1.5% of all power generated worldwide — with AI workloads accounting for roughly 15% of that total. The International Energy Agency's 2025 Energy and AI report projects consumption will more than double to 945 TWh by 2030 in its base-case scenario. In the United States, data centers consumed around 183 TWh in 2024, representing 4% of national electricity use, and accounted for roughly half of all new U.S. electricity demand growth in 2025. AI inference and training hardware is growing at 30% per year in electricity demand — more than three times faster than conventional servers.
Findings
- Global data centers consumed 415 TWh in 2024 — 1.5% of world electricity — growing at 12% per year over five years, per the IEA.
- AI servers accounted for 15% of total data center energy demand in 2024 and are growing at 30% annually, versus 9% for conventional servers.
- The IEA base case projects global data center electricity will reach 945 TWh by 2030; the high scenario reaches 1,100 TWh — nearly triple 2024 levels.
- U.S. data centers consumed ~183 TWh in 2024 (4% of national electricity) and accounted for roughly 50% of all new U.S. electricity demand growth in 2025.
- EPRI and LBNL both project U.S. data center electricity could reach 6.7–12% of total national supply by 2028–2030, driven primarily by AI infrastructure.
Delta Engine result
↔ Divergence Detected — Δ 0.2892 (threshold 0.05)
- IEA – Energy and AI T5 95
- Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory T5 82
- Carbon Brief T3 84
- EPRI T0 78
- Pew Research Center T0 71
Evidence quality
avg 62 · min 25 · max 95 · spread 70