Renewable energy is increasingly being used to supply power-hungry data centers. As the sector swells, much of the electricity demand is being met by polluting fossil fuels.
https://p.dw.com/p/5CYE7AI data centers today can use as much electricity as 100,000 householdsImage: Noah Berger/REUTERSAdvertisementData centers need vast amounts of energy to fuel servers and process the information that keeps our websites, applications and generative AI models running.
The United States has more data centers than anywhere else in the world and the extra energy demand is straining transmission grids and driving up the cost of electricity. Struggling grid operators are turning to polluting fossil fuels to quickly supply the power. In some cases, they are considering nuclear energy, or even bringing back oil, gas and coal power plants that had been slated for closure.
According to recent analysis by Reuters, the country's biggest power grid postponed or canceled the planned closure of 60% of its fossil fuel plants last year. PJM Interconnection covers 13 eastern states, including Virgina, the "data center capital of the world." Eleven of the plants due to close were so-called "peakers," which are brought online during periods of spiking electricity demand.
"It is clear today, nationally, that electricity demand is outstripping supply — the market reflects this, and generators are responding," PJM spokesman Jeff Shields told Reuters. "We need every single megawatt of energy we can get right now."
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To meet that demand, some power companies are letting other priorities slide. Virginia-based Dominion Energy, which had pledged to shift to 100% renewable sources by 2045, has planned significant investment in gas and nuclear power until 2039 to "reliably generate power when customers need it the most."
In Nevada, utility company NV Energy has said data centers could cause it to miss the state's clean energy targets of 50% renewable power generation by 2030. And in North Carolina, home to nearly 100 data centers, NextEra Energy announced in December that it no longer saw "a realistic path to achieving actual zero-carbon emissions by 2045."
Dave Jones, chief analyst at global energy think tank Ember, said the unique electricity demands of data centers explains the heavy reliance on fossil fuels, especially gas.
AI data centers today can use as much electricity as 100,000 households, but the largest centers currently under construction will need 20 times as much. And rapid technological advancement makes future needs tricky to predict.
"It's very hard in that context to plan for how much electricity you're going to use," Jones said, adding that some centers are also looking into on-site power generation. "The quickest, cheapest, easiest way in the eyes of many companies is to use gas."
In the US, natural gas provides more than 40% of the electricity for data centers, according to the International Energy Agency. Coal-fired power plants provide 15%.
Worldwide, the IEA projects that these two dirty fuel sources will power over 40% of the additional electricity required by data centers until at least 2030. The agency adds that demand from upcoming plants will likely be "a significant near-term driver of growth for natural gas-fired and coal-fired generation."
Jones said the fact that "US natural gas prices are at an 18-month low" makes the fuel an attractive option.
The low price of gas, combined with the added tariffs on importing solar panels and other technologies from abroad, means the expansion of renewable energy for US data centers has slowed. But Jones said that's not all that's at play.
"The other component of all of this is just that there's absolutely zero desire for any climate responsibility," said Jones, referring to the shift away from climate polices under President Donald Trump. Many of the projections and commitments made by AI companies to use clean electricity for their data centers have "gone out the window," he said.
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Since returning to office last year, Trump has been open about his disdain for renewables. He has signed executive orders to boost fossil fuels, and the Department of Energy has reiterated the importance of coal and nuclear to sustain US energy needs, especially when it comes to data center growth and AI.
"How are we going to reindustrialize America? How are we going to win the AI race on that trajectory?" Energy Secretary Chris Wright said during a briefing at the New York Foreign Press Center in September 2025, commenting on the previous administration's plans to phase out fossil fuel plants. "Climate change, like every other issue, is a trade-off."
But clean energy advocates have pointed out that there doesn't have to be a trade-off. Investments in grid transmission lines and battery storage, they say, can provide the extra energy provided by peaker plants without the increased air pollution.
Renewable energy does provide electricity for nearly a quarter of the more than 4,200 data centers in the US, especially in sunny areas in the south and southwest. And it's the same worldwide. The IEA has said "renewables and natural gas are set to account for over 65% of all electricity produced for data centres by 2030" — also in parts of Southeast Asia, for example, where the IEA anticipates electricity demand from data centers to more than double by 2030.
"Electricity demand is rising faster for a number of reasons across countries in Asia as they electrify faster," said Jones. "Renewables is keeping up with a large extent of that — even in India and China," where they currently rely on a "mix of coal and renewables."
Jones said the ongoing energy crisis due to the US-Israeli war in Iran could lead Asian countries rapidly building out their data center networks to think twice about relying on oil and gas to power that growth, and consider nuclear and renewables instead.
"There's been this massive boost given to clean electricity from the rise in fossil [fuel energy] prices," he said. "Renewables, wind and solar, is [now] an integral part of the conversation and focus of their energy strategies."
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Meanwhile, in the US, data center opponents are fighting back. A recent Quinnipiac University poll found that 65% of Americans were against a facility near their home, with nearly two-thirds citing electricity costs.
In New Jersey, where the average electricity bill rose by nearly 17% last year, residents in one town recently managed to cancel a planned data center over environmental and energy concerns. In Maine, legislators have backed a bill that would pause new data center construction until November 2027 to evaluate the risks to the electric grid and environment.
"If these centers aren't thoughtfully planned and coordinated, they can place extraordinary demands on electric infrastructure, the surrounding environment and host communities," said state Representative Melanie Sachs.
