A data center boom in the US is straining the grid and pushing up energy costs. Meeting demand will require every available resource, but one solution lies in wasted natural gas. Capturing fugitive methane could supply an important part of new demand, cut emissions and support energy security.
The US is facing a looming energy crunch — and it is already affecting electricity prices. Massive new data centers, which support cloud computing operations and the development of new artificial intelligence technologies, are rapidly increasing their electricity consumption.
The scale of the expansion is staggering. According to projections from the Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, electricity consumption by data centers could jump by roughly 150-400 terawatt hours per year by 2028.
For scale, 150 TWh is more electricity than all the power plants in the state of New York generate in a year, according to data from the US Energy Information Administration. On the high end, 400 TWh is more than the combined annual generation of Washington state, Oregon and California.
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