Data centers use enormous amounts of electricity to power servers and to train and serve AI models. In the United States, which hosts the largest share of facilities, rapid growth in demand is straining transmission networks, pushing up power prices and leading some grid operators to keep fossil-fired plants online rather than retire them.
PJM Interconnection, the grid operator for 13 eastern states including Virginia, postponed or canceled the planned closure of roughly 60% of its fossil-fuel plants last year. Many of those units were peaker plants reserved for demand spikes; PJM has said the system currently needs every available megawatt. Utilities and developers are responding by adding gas and nuclear capacity to safeguard reliability. For example, Dominion Energy, which had pledged 100% renewables by 2045, now plans substantial gas and nuclear investments through 2039. NV Energy has warned that rapid data-center growth could imperil Nevada’s 2030 clean energy target, and NextEra Energy has said it no longer sees a realistic path to actual zero-carbon power by 2045.
Analysts point out that the fluctuating, fast-growing electricity needs of modern data centers tend to favor natural gas because it can be deployed quickly, remains relatively inexpensive, and is reliable. Some AI facilities already consume as much power as 100,000 households, and the largest planned campuses could require up to 20 times that amount. The International Energy Agency estimates that in the US natural gas supplies more than 40% of data-center electricity while coal accounts for about 15%. Globally, the IEA projects that natural gas and coal will supply over 40% of the additional electricity required by data centers through at least 2030, making these fuels a major near-term driver of generation growth.
Low US natural gas prices and tariffs that have raised the cost of imported solar panels are slowing renewable deployments in some regions. Political shifts away from aggressive climate policies have also reduced pressure on companies and utilities to prioritize clean power. Policymakers and industry leaders often describe choices about where and how to power data-center expansion as trade-offs between maintaining industrial competitiveness and meeting climate goals.
Still, renewables already provide a significant portion of data-center power in many places. Nearly a quarter of the roughly 4,200 US data centers receive at least some renewable energy, especially in sunnier southern and southwestern states. The IEA expects renewables and natural gas together to supply more than 65% of data-center electricity by 2030. In parts of Asia, where electricity demand from data centers could more than double by 2030, governments are deploying mixes of renewables, gas, and in some cases nuclear energy.
Clean-energy advocates say the grid can meet peaks without relying on polluting peaker plants if governments and utilities invest in transmission lines, grid upgrades, and battery storage. Other measures include on-site renewables paired with storage, higher energy efficiency in data-center design, demand-shaping agreements with utilities, and better coordination between developers and grid operators. Those approaches can reduce the need for fossil backup and limit the environmental footprint of new facilities.
Local opposition is rising where data-center development has driven up electricity prices or raised other environmental concerns. A recent poll found roughly 65% of Americans would oppose a data center near their home, often citing higher local power bills. Community pushback has led to canceled projects and legislative action in some states: one New Jersey town halted a proposed data center after local bills increased by nearly 17% last year, and Maine lawmakers backed a proposal to pause new data-center construction until 2027 to evaluate grid and environmental impacts.
So can data centers be green? Technically yes. A combination of large-scale renewable generation, storage, transmission upgrades, smarter grid planning, efficiency improvements, on-site clean power, and careful siting can substantially decarbonize data-center operations. Achieving that outcome at the speed and scale of current growth, however, will require coordinated public policy, major investments in transmission and storage, stronger and enforceable corporate commitments, and planning that avoids shifting costs or pollution onto host communities.