EIA Report: Data Center Energy Demands Rising Faster Than Forecast
Techstrong.IT, Thursday, June 12th, 2025
Data centers are devouring even more energy than previously forecast, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). The government agency has revised its projections of energy use upward for 2025 and 2026 due to increasing growth in energy consumption by data centers.
Among all the sectors that the EIA reports on its monthly STEO (Short Term Energy Report), the greatest revision was needed in the commercial sector, 'where data centers are an expanding source of demand,' the report noted. In previous STEO reports, the EIA forecast that commercial sector energy demand would increase by an annual average of 2%. But in its June STEO, the EIA revised this upward to predict a 3% increase in 2025 and a 5% increase in 2026.
While those numbers may appear modest in an absolute sense, viewed on a percentage basis they represent a 50% revision upward for this year and a more than 100% boost for next year-suggesting that EIA has grossly underestimated the rate of growth for energy consumption in the sector most influenced by data centers.