Big Data is experiencing a growth spurt.
Global electricity consumption from data centers grew by 17 percent in 2025, reaching nearly 2 percent of global electricity consumption, according to a study released Wednesday by the International Data Center Authority.
The think tank’s figures underscore artificial intelligence’s tremendous impact on power markets, as well as the challenges facing the industry as technology companies race to find the electricity needed to power energy-hungry data centers.
Take the U.S. The country is the world’s largest data center market by IDCA’s accounting, with its facilities consuming 256 terawatt-hours of electricity — far more than China, which is second at 74.4 TWh. Those data centers now account for 6 percent of total U.S. electricity consumption, a risky threshold for developers, said Roger Strukhoff, chief research officer at IDCA.
