The growth in demand is linked to the emergence of new consumer industries, including ground electric transport. According to the EIA, the demand for electricity from electric cars and plug-in hybrids more than doubled in the first ten months of 2024 compared to the same period of 2022 (from 4.2 TWh to 8.9 TWh). As a result, ground electric transport in the U.S. is now consuming more electricity than countries like Cyprus (5.3 TWh in 2023).
Another fast-growing segment is represented by data centers. According to Rystad Energy, data centers ramped up their power consumption from nearly 73 TWh in 2018 to 130 TWh in 2023; this figure was projected to reach 141 TWh by the end of 2024. This growth is mostly driven by IT companies: for instance, Microsoft signed a contract with Constellation Energy last year to restart the first power unit of the Three Mile Island NPP, which was shut down in 2019 after 45 years of operation. The contract was signed despite the fact that the second unit of the NPP had experienced one of the largest disasters in the history of nuclear energy in 1979.
The dynamics of electricity consumption are also indirectly influenced by the spread of energy storage devices. According to the EIA, the installed capacity of energy storage systems in the U.S. increased more than threefold between 2022 and 2024 (from 9 GW to 29.9 GW). The installation of storage devices makes it possible to use electricity from wind and solar generators more efficiently, thereby creating additional incentives for the construction of renewable energy facilities. On the other hand, growing demand for energy storage leads to the establishment of new enterprises producing storage devices, which are themselves major consumers of electricity.
More generally, the emergence of new consumer industries has led to growth in power demand, which had previously been offset by increased energy efficiency in the U.S. industry and services.
