Datacentres using 6% of electricity supply in UK and US, research says
Industry body says energy consumption driven by AI up 15% globally in two years as it warns of societal backlashDatacentres are consuming 6% of electricity in the UK and US, with the growing strain of AI on energy supplies prompting…
By · May 13, 2026 · 1 min read
This article was originally published by
The Guardian World
and is republished here under license.
Industry body says energy consumption driven by AI up 15% globally in two years as it warns of societal backlash
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).
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