What’s driving the rise in electricity demand?

The United States is in the midst of a boom in power use — and Georgia is at the epicenter of the increases, according to information compiled by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. What’s driving the growth:

DATA CENTERS | Driven by artificial intelligence, cryptocurrency and cloud computing, total U.S. data center load is projected to increase by 65% by 2050.

ELECTRIFICATION | Electric vehicle adoption, electrification of home heating and industrial electrification are expected to increase overall U.S. energy consumption by 1% per year through 2026.

RESIDENTIAL POWER CONSUMPTION | Increases in population and steady economic growth are expected to increase residential power consumption by 14% to 22% through 2050.

MANUFACTURING GROWTH | New and expanding manufacturing capacity driven by federal incentives is expected to increase industrial demand by 13,000 GWh per year. Key products: EVs, batteries, semiconductors, solar power components.

TOTAL DEMAND | U.S. power consumption nationwide is expected to grow 3% annually in the next five years – a five-fold increase in load growth forecasts over the past two years. The increases amount to 128 gigawatts of electricity, enough to power every home in Georgia for about three years.

Sources: Grid Strategies, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, U.S. EIA, International Energy Agency