Data centers 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 from the International Data Center Association (IDCA).
Rising Energy Use from AI and Internet
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. Annual global investment in data centers approaches $1 trillion (£740 billion), nearly 1% of the global economy, the IDCA reports.
These figures emerge amid energy shortages in the UK and reports of data center developers waiting several years for national grid connections. The IDCA stated that rising power usage globally is “sparking societal and political concerns” and called on tech companies to become more transparent about their plans for new data centers to address “community frustration.”
Community Pushback at 5% Consumption Level
“Significant community and political pushback starts to occur in nations once their data center footprints have reached the 5% consumption level of national grids,” the IDCA research concludes. In early 2025, the UK government estimated UK data centers 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 data centers, and the US, where the figure is 6%, are well above the global average of 2%. Tech use in Singapore and Lithuania places an even heavier burden on power supplies, with 19% and 11% respectively of these countries’ national grid energy now consumed by data centers.
Greenpeace Warns of Unchecked AI Boom
Responding to the rising power use, Greenpeace UK warned that an “unchecked AI boom” would 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 centers, proper environmental impact assessments, and a ban on new polluting plants being built to power AI.”
There are now estimated to be about 10,000 data centers worldwide, the largest of which include Microsoft’s new 1.2 million sq ft (about 111,500 sq meter) Mount Pleasant data center in Wisconsin, which it bills as the world’s most powerful.
Zombie Services and Inefficiency
The IDCA’s figures align with recent estimates by the International Energy Agency that energy use rose 17% in 2025, outpacing growth in global electricity demand of 3%. The IDCA also found that 13% of data center consumption in the US comes from unused “zombie” services – running apps that were never switched off but are unused. This wasted consumption totals in excess of 3 GW. The report said: “This sort of inefficiency is presumed to be apparent throughout the world, with inefficiencies increasing as the percentage of cloud computing rises.”
Military Threat to Data Centers
The annual report also highlighted the new military threat to data centers. “The attacks on data centers – now viewed as critical infrastructure – in the Middle East have shocked data center operators and customers with the spectre of breached physical security,” it said. “Cybersecurity is now twinned with physical security as part-and-parcel of a unified, comprehensive security strategy.”
