Electricity Consumption

Most European data centers withhold energy and water usage figures, study finds

A year-long investigation by Lighthouse Report, Trouw and other European media found that most data centers in Europe do not disclose their electricity and water consumption, despite an EU directive requiring larger facilities to report such data. In the Netherlands, fewer than a quarter of the 186 commercial data centers with capacity of 500 kW or more have published usage figures, and the national agency tasked with collecting this data has records for only 104 of them.

nltimes.nl · 2026-09-30

Brookings study: AI data-center buildout equals 3.63% of US GDP annually

A Brookings Institution study by Columbia Business School professor Stijn van Nieuwerburgh finds that AI infrastructure investment—chips, electricity and data centers—now averages 3.63% of US GDP per year, exceeding prior booms in canals, railroads, electrification and highways. The study estimates 183 gigawatts of new data-center capacity is planned over seven years, more than tripling the roughly 57 gigawatts currently installed, and projects this could double the electricity consumption of the entire US residential sector.

slashdot.org · 2026-09-27