US data centers will need 55 gigawatts of new power capacity within the next five years, according to a report released this week by Bloom Energy. The report, based on a survey of 100 data center leaders, also shows that 30% of all sites will be using onsite power by 2030.
For reference, McKinsey research estimates that there was 25 gigawatts worth of demand in 2024. And McKinsey has similar predictions for power demand growth, estimating that US data centers will have more than 80 gigawatts of demand in 2030.
“This growth is fueled by the continued increase in data, compute and connectivity from digitalization, and cloud migration, as well as the scaling of new technologies—the most important of which is AI,” McKinsey researchers say.
