Data Centers Accounted for Half of US Electricity Demand Growth in 2025

Global energy demand increased by 1.3 percent in 2025, below the average for the previous decade. All major energy fuels and technologies expanded, but at varying rates. Solar PV met more than 25 percent of the higher demand, followed by natural gas at 17 percent.

Demand for oil rose by 0.65 million barrels per day, or 0.7 percent, slower than in 2024. Natural gas demand grew by around 1 percent, down from 2.8 percent in 2024. Coal demand increased by about 0.4 percent, with a 10 percent rise in the United States due to gas-to-coal switching and higher electricity needs.

The United States, energy demand growth reached its second-highest level since 2000, excluding post-recession years. This was driven by strong electricity demand from data centers, industrial growth, and colder temperatures. The buildings sector accounted for 80 percent of U.S. power demand growth in 2025, particularly from increasing data center loads.

Data centers specifically drove half of all growth in U.S. electricity use last year. Electricity demand grew at over twice the rate of overall energy demand, at nearly 3 percent globally.

Renewable capacity additions hit a record 800 gigawatts worldwide in 2025, with solar contributing 75 percent. The additional 600 terawatt-hours of solar PV generation marked the largest annual increase for any electricity technology. This contributed to a decline in global coal-fired electricity generation.

Battery storage capacity added about 110 gigawatts, exceeding the largest annual additions for natural gas. Renewables and nuclear power increases exceeded total electricity supply growth.

“Electricity consumption is growing much faster than overall energy demand – and one energy source is growing much faster than any other. Emissions fell in China due to renewables growth and slower demand, while India's emissions were flat for the first time since the 1970s. In advanced economies, emissions increased due to cold weather and higher natural gas prices. The rollout of clean energy technologies since 2019 avoided more than 35 exajoules of annual fossil fuel demand in 2025, equivalent to 7 percent of global fossil fuel use. This also prevented 3 billion tonnes of CO2 emissions annually, or 8 percent of global emissions. China's energy intensity improvement rose to above 3 percent in 2025, after slowing to 0.6 percent per year from 2019 to 2024. The global electricity growth rate dropped from 4.4 percent in 2024, affected by lower cooling demand in India and Southeast Asia.”