US data center electricity and water use to increase significantly by 2028: report By Investing.com

Investing.com — U.S. data centers are expected to significantly increase their electricity and water usage by 2028, driven by the rising adoption of AI technology, according to a U.S. Department of Energy report.

The report forecasts data center electricity demand to rise by 13-27% annually, reaching 325-580 terawatt-hours (TWh), or 6.7-12% of total U.S. demand, by 2028.

This marks a sharp increase from 176 TWh in 2023, with AI servers accounting for much of the growth. demand from AI servers alone is expected to grow 4-8 times, surpassing conventional servers by 2028.

Water usage, primarily for cooling, is projected to increase even faster, by 17-33% annually, reaching 145-275 billion liters by 2028. The study highlights a shift towards water-cooled chillers to accommodate the higher energy density of AI-driven data centers.

The DOE study, conducted by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, underscores the rapid transformation in data center infrastructure, with substantial implications for energy and resource planning in the U.S.