Jul 22, 2026 | Posted by Abdul-Rahman Oladimeji
US data centers could require up to 194GW of power by 2035, according to BloombergNEF, an 83 percent increase from its previous forecast. The growth would see data centers account for around 20 percent of US electricity consumption, driven largely by new AI infrastructure projects, including planned facilities from Microsoft and Meta.
“Every coal plant, every gas plant, every solar farm in the US — one unit of energy out of five generated by them is going to data centers,” said Lloyd Arnold, an analyst at BNEF and one of the authors of the report. “So that’s the same energy that’s going to be going into powering electric vehicles, powering cities, etcetera.”
Data centers in the PJM Interconnection region are expected to drive significant power demand growth by 2035, raising concerns over potential grid capacity shortfalls. Analysts estimate the US could face a 19GW generation gap, while Bank of America forecasts a need for more than 230GW of new capacity over five years. As a result, developers are increasingly turning to on-site generation, with more than 7.5GW of projects under construction and over 60GW in pre-construction.
