Gartner: Data center electricity consumption to grow 26% in 2026
AI-optimized servers are a relatively new phenomenon but they have rapidly gained uh traditional data centers in terms of power use. Gartner estimates AI-optimized server adoption will account for 31% of data center power consumption in 2026, and that by 2027 their power consumption will surpass that of conventional servers.
“Surging demand for compute-intensive AI workloads is driving unprecedented data center power growth, while AI capacity is now constrained by power availability, making data center power security the new battle ground for scaling and protecting margins in the global AI race,” said Wang in a statement.
Wang said of the 565TWh consumed this year, the U.S. will account for about 204TWh, or 36% of the total amount consumed. And of the 204TWh consumed this year, dedicated AI data centers will consume 68TWh, or one-third of the total. So in just five years, AI data centers have gone from zero to of the total power consumption in the US.
