Data and research
Every figure that gets thrown around in this debate, with the document it came from, what it actually measures, and how it has moved. The daily update checks for new official releases and records changes below.
About 4.7% of all US electricity
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (source 1), as of June 2026
The official federal count, published June 2026. Both sides accept it. Excludes cryptocurrency mining. The next measured year (2025) will not be published until 2027.
The lab's Reference Case has use rising 22% from 2024 to 2025. Applied to 192 TWh that is roughly 234 TWh, or about 5.6% of US electricity
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 2025 Update (source 1), as of June 2026
An estimate, not a measurement. The report states the growth rate in its conclusion and shows the yearly values only in a chart, so the 234 figure is derived. Its own stress test puts the range at roughly 20% below to 30% above.
Up 25.5% from 249.0 TWh in 2024. About 39.7% of a world total of 787.8 TWh; China 205.7 TWh, Europe 144.6 TWh
Energy Institute Statistical Review of World Energy 2026 (as reported by Forbes, August 23, 2026), as of July 2026
A different scorekeeper with a broader count: it puts 2024 at 249 TWh where Berkeley Lab puts it at 192 TWh. Both are defensible; they define and model data centers differently. Never mix the two series in one sentence.
Up more than 15% from about 415 TWh in 2024, roughly 1.5% of world electricity. AI-focused data centers grew about 50%. The IEA puts the US at about half of world capacity
IEA, Key Questions on Energy and AI (2026), as of 2026
The IEA's world total (485 TWh) is far below the Energy Institute's (787.8 TWh) for the same year. Same lesson: check which series a number comes from before comparing.
Reference Case growth of 29% from 2025 to 2026, applied to the 234 TWh 2025 estimate. Roughly 7% of US electricity
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 2025 Update (source 1), as of June 2026
A forecast. Nobody will have a measured 2026 national figure until 2028.
738.7 TWh sold to commercial customers January through June 2026, versus 715.0 TWh in the same months of 2025, an extra 23.7 TWh. Total US sales were up 1.2%. EIA names data center development as the main driver of commercial growth
EIA Electric Power Monthly, Table 5.1 (data through June 2026), as of June 2026
No agency meters data centers month by month, so there is no true year-to-date data center figure. Commercial sales include offices, stores, hospitals and everything else, so treat the extra 23.7 TWh as an upper bound on data center growth so far this year. The daily update refreshes this as each monthly release lands.
Range 578 to 782 TWh, or 9.5% to 15.3% of US electricity
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (source 1), as of June 2026
The authors publish a range on purpose. Do not quote the middle figure as a prediction.
Up from $28.92 before the spike, then $329.17, then the price ceiling
Utility Dive (source 18), as of December 2025
Wholesale standby price, not a household bill. Standby is roughly a tenth to a quarter of a home bill.
Of $16.4 billion in charges, per the independent market monitor
Monitoring Analytics via Utility Dive (source 17), as of 2026
Measures who caused the cost, not how the bill was split. Both sides accept the number.
All but 2 GW attributed to data centers
Utility Dive (source 18), as of December 2025
New Jersey households near the top (17 to 20% supply increase); PJM's own estimate 1.5 to 5% in some states
New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (source 27), as of February 2025
Depends heavily on the state and utility.
30 of them created in 2025 and 2026
E3 (commissioned by the Data Center Coalition) (source 8), as of May 2026
Industry-funded study. Count is verifiable in state filings.
Customers over 25 MW: 14-year contracts, pay for at least 85% of wires capacity and 60% of generating capacity reserved, used or not
Virginia State Corporation Commission (source 9), as of February 2026
Nearly three times the 17-cent average of the state's other sales tax exemptions
JLARC (Virginia legislature's nonpartisan auditor) (source 22), as of December 2024
State treasury only. County property tax is a separate pocket.
Ranked the state's second-best incentive
Cardinal News (source 28), as of June 2026
Measures wages generated, largely during construction, not money back to the treasury.
Up from $555 million in 2024, roughly $330 per Ohio household
Good Jobs First (source 20), as of 2026
From the state's own legally required disclosures.
Fourteen states with exemptions publish no annual total at all
Good Jobs First (source 20), as of November 2025
Counts money given away; does not fully count money later collected.
About 39% of the county budget; tax rate cut every year from $1.145 (2016) to $0.805 (2026) per $100
Loudoun County, Virginia (source 4), as of February 2025
Public budget documents. The most favorable case in the country.
Computing employment up 56%, telecom up 43%, wages flat, home values up 2 to 5% over a decade
Brookings (Bahar and Wright) (source 6), as of 2026
The one jobs study both sides cite.
Each direct job modeled to support 4.5 more
PwC for the Data Center Coalition (source 31), as of 2025
Modeled, not measured; industry-funded.
Double a decade earlier; at least half from data centers; 600 new apprentices in one year
Boston Globe (source 7), as of May 2026
Reported by the union, not the companies.
$5.5 billion in wages, $9.1 billion to the state economy, mostly during initial construction
JLARC (source 22), as of December 2024
Both sides accept this line and the next: costs 'will likely increase' for all customers.
Roughly 185,000 gallons; global AI water use projected at 4.2 to 6.6 billion cubic meters by 2027
UC Riverside (Li, Yang, Islam, Ren) (source 23), as of 2025
Peer reviewed; relies on company-reported efficiency figures and regional averages.
Newest designs use no water for cooling in normal operation; Google committed to the same by 2030
GeekWire (source 14), as of 2026
Self-reported, unaudited company figures.
Tracker run by 10a Labs, whose clients are AI companies
Data Center Watch (source 25), as of 2025
About 75 projects; opposition groups more than doubled across 49 states; 14 legislatures took up pause bills
Data Center Watch (source 25), as of April 2026
Price tag of investment that did not land, not money anyone saved.
Record quarter; full-year investment forecast near $700 billion; analysts put 30 to 50% of the 2026 pipeline at risk of delay or cancellation
Industrial Info Resources (source 29), as of 2026
Commercial market data with no side in the debate.
Early 2026 to 2030; US holds roughly 75% of world AI compute vs about 15% for China
AI Data Center Index (source 30), as of September 2026
Tracking-site estimates of a fast-moving target.
Across regions serving about 95% of the country, if customers accept short, occasional cutbacks
Duke University Nicholas Institute (source 11), as of February 2025
Depends on flexibility that most contracts do not yet require.
US and Europe; includes Google, Meta, Microsoft, Oracle, NVIDIA, utilities and grid operators
EPRI (source 12), as of 2026
Participants include the companies being tested.
What the daily research update added or changed, newest first.