Datacentres using 6% of electricity supply in UK and US, research says

Datacentres are consuming 6% of electricity in the UK and US, with the growing strain of AI on energy supplies prompting community resistance, according to research.

The proportion of electricity used by vast warehouses stacked with microchips to power AI and the internet has risen 15% worldwide in the past two years as annual global investment in datacentres approaches $1tn (£740bn) – nearly 1% of the global economy, according to the International Data Center Association (IDCA).

The figures come amid energy shortages in the UK and datacentre developers reporting waits of several years for national grid connections. The IDCA said rising power usage globally was “sparking societal and political concerns” and called on tech companies to become more transparent about their plans for new datacentres to tackle “community frustration”.

The Guardian this week reported that developers working for Google significantly misstated how much carbon two proposed AI datacentres would contribute to the UK’s total emissions.

“Significant community and political pushback starts to occur in nations once their datacentre footprints have reached the 5% consumption level of national grids,” the IDCA research concludes.

In early 2025, the UK government estimated UK datacentres used 2.5% of electricity, but predicted this would increase fourfold by 2030. In the first half of 2025 the queue to connect to the grid grew by 460%.

The UK, where 5.9% of electricity is used by datacentres, and the US, where the figure is 6%, are well above the global average of 2%. Tech use in Singapore and Lithuania is placing an even heavier burden on power supplies with 19% and 11% of national grid energy now consumed by datacentres respectively.

Responding to the rising power use, Greenpeace UK warned that an “unchecked AI boom” will mean higher energy bills, more stress on water supplies and “a new lifeline for fossil fuels”.

Doug Parr, the campaign group’s chief scientist, said: “Before being swept along by the enthusiasm of tech billionaires whose profits depend on this expansion, we should pause and ask ourselves whether it’s worth the price.

“We need more transparency about the amount of water and energy used by data centres, proper environmental impact assessments, and a ban on new polluting plants being built to power AI.”