The EIA forecasts record US electricity consumption in 2026 and 2027
The Short Term Energy Outlook released on 9 September 2026 forecasts United States electricity consumption of 4,135 billion kilowatthours in 2026 and 4,211 billion kilowatthours in 2027, and attributes the growth to data center development and increased manufacturing in the commercial and industrial sectors.
The verdict
Verified
The document exists. The ledger fetched it at its publisher and quotes it.
Key facts
What the sources say
- Record ID
- AIA-2026-0003
- Kind
- Figure of record
- Jurisdiction
- United States
- Last verified
- Added
- The outlook states that the United States uses record amounts of electricity in the forecast.
- The forecast growth is attributed to data center development and increased manufacturing activity in the commercial and industrial sectors.
- The West South Central region accounts for the largest share of total electricity sales growth in the forecast.
- These are the EIA's own forecast figures, not measured consumption for a completed year.
Figures
Every number, with who measured it and when
- 4,135 billion kilowatthours
EIA forecast of US electricity consumption in 2026, published September 2026
US Energy Information Administration, Short Term Energy Outlook, primary source, as of .
- 4,211 billion kilowatthours
EIA forecast of US electricity consumption in 2027, published September 2026
US Energy Information Administration, Short Term Energy Outlook, primary source, as of .
What it changes
For an operator, a utility or a community
An operator hearing that the grid is full should know which number the argument rests on and that it is a forecast from a federal statistical agency, revised every month. A utility can cite the same source in a rate case without borrowing a vendor's projection. A community weighing a proposal should ask where in the load forecast this particular campus sits, because a national total says nothing about the feeder that will serve it.
Sources
What this record was verified against
- US Energy Information Administration, Short Term Energy OutlookPrimary · 9 September 2026
Related
Records that sit beside this one
The measured US figure of record: 176 TWh, 4.4 percent of national electricity in 2023
United States · verified 15 September 2026
Data centers consumed about 4.4 percent of total US electricity in 2023, on the report's own accounting.
The global figure of record: 415 TWh of data centre electricity in 2024
Global · verified 15 September 2026
Data centres accounted for around 1.5 percent of world electricity consumption in 2024, or 415 TWh.
Open question: does behind the meter generation escape interconnection rules
United States · verified 15 September 2026
The DOE proposal to FERC reaches loads that share a point of interconnection with new or existing generation, which is the colocation case.
Open question: should a data center's water use be public, site by site
United States · verified 15 September 2026
The EU scheme collects water usage as a key performance indicator and publishes only aggregated figures at Member State and Union level.
Georgia SB 421 would stop local governments hiding data center water and power figures
United States · verified 15 September 2026
The bill targets the agreement, not the facility: it would prohibit local governments from signing away the public's access to usage figures.
State legislatures, not Washington, are writing the data center water rules
United States · verified 15 September 2026
California AB 1577 would require monthly reports to the State Energy Commission on energy and water consumption.
Cite this record
Free to reuse under CC BY 4.0, with attribution. The record ID AIA-2026-0003 is permanent and is never reused.
- In a sentence
- According to the GAGE AI Infrastructure Atlas (as of 15 September 2026), the eia forecasts record us electricity consumption in 2026 and 2027.
- APA
- GAGE (Global Academy of Generative-AI Education). (2026). The EIA forecasts record US electricity consumption in 2026 and 2027. AI Infrastructure Atlas. Retrieved 15 September 2026, from https://www.gage.academy/tools/ai-infrastructure-atlas/records/AIA-2026-0003-eia-steo-record-us-electricity-demand
- MLA
- "The EIA forecasts record US electricity consumption in 2026 and 2027." AI Infrastructure Atlas, GAGE (Global Academy of Generative-AI Education), 15 September 2026, https://www.gage.academy/tools/ai-infrastructure-atlas/records/AIA-2026-0003-eia-steo-record-us-electricity-demand.
- Chicago
- GAGE (Global Academy of Generative-AI Education). "The EIA forecasts record US electricity consumption in 2026 and 2027." AI Infrastructure Atlas. Last modified 15 September 2026. https://www.gage.academy/tools/ai-infrastructure-atlas/records/AIA-2026-0003-eia-steo-record-us-electricity-demand.
- Permalink
- https://www.gage.academy/tools/ai-infrastructure-atlas/records/AIA-2026-0003-eia-steo-record-us-electricity-demand
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