Support CleanTechnica's work through a Substack subscription or on Stripe.
In the Annual Energy Outlook 2026 (AEO2026), our long-term outlook, we project electricity consumed by data center servers will increase across the commercial building stock, increasing more in standalone data centers than in all other data center rooms combined. By 2050, server consumption alone reaches between 446 billion kilowatthours (BkWh) and 818 billion BkWh. The highest end of the range reflects faster growth in server power draw and installed stock in our High Electricity Demand case. Standalone data centers are represented in the other buildings category, where we project servers will consume 581 BkWh of electricity in 2050 in our High Electricity Demand case. Across all cases, servers alone accounted for an estimated 7% of commercial sector electricity consumption in 2025. Data center server electricity use grows to 22%–33% of commercial building electricity use by 2050 across our cases.
Data source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Commercial Buildings Energy Consumption Survey (CBECS) and Annual Energy Outlook 2026 (AEO2026) Counterfactual Baseline and High Electricity Demand cases
The commercial sector’s electricity intensity, measured in kilowatthours (kWh) of electricity consumed per square foot, exceeds the 2003 historical high of 14.9 kWh per square foot for the first time in 2031–2032. In the 2003 Commercial Buildings Energy Consumption Survey, electricity intensity for the newest buildings, constructed from 1990 onward, was as much as twice that of the oldest buildings, constructed prior to 1959. Data center servers and associated end uses that support server operation, including space cooling and ventilation, increase commercial energy intensity in our AEO2026 projections.
