Data centers are causing explosive growth in gas-fired power demand, potentially increasing US gas plants by 50 percent and emissions.
San Francisco: Data centers have caused a big boom in gas power demand in the United States. A new study found that one-third of this demand comes from gas projects that will power data centers. This is as much energy as tens of millions of American homes use.
The research from Global Energy Monitor shows that existing gas plants could grow by almost 50 percent. The United States now has about 565 gigawatts of gas-fired power. If all new projects get built, this would add 252 more gigawatts. To put that in perspective, one gigawatt can power up to one million homes.
Over the past two years, data centers have helped increase gas power demand nearly three times over. Data centers became much more important when looking at power needs. The study’s authors say that about a year and a half ago, they started seeing many more proposals for data centers that need power.
Natural gas is cleaner than coal when it burns, but it still releases carbon dioxide. About 35 percent of U.S. energy-related carbon emissions in 2022 came from burning natural gas. Another concern is methane leaks during gas extraction, which can be much worse for climate change than carbon dioxide.
This push for more gas power comes as the Trump administration supports both building more data centers and removing pollution rules. As data centers continue growing across the nation, the race for power is leading to more fossil fuel use.