Overview
- BloombergNEF issued a major revision that projects U.S. data centers will demand about 194 gigawatts by 2035, equal to roughly 20% of U.S. electricity use, a jump made public on July 21.
- The consultancy says the surge is driven mainly by AI training and inference, and it raised its 2035 estimate by about 83% from its December forecast.
- BNEF warns concentrated demand will stress certain networks most heavily, with PJM and ERCOT modeled to supply large shares of data‑center load and a possible national shortfall of about 19 GW by 2035.
- Developers are responding with on‑site gas plants, batteries, long‑term power deals and repurposed crypto‑mining capacity, but interconnection queue delays, long equipment lead times and permitting limits mean these fixes will not ease near‑term bottlenecks.
- Independent analysis from UNU‑INWEH and others highlights that electricity is only part of the impact, pointing to large water and land demands that will shape local opposition, regulatory choices and consumer electricity costs.