Data centers powering artificial intelligence could use more electricity than entire cities
An Amazon Web Services data center in Ashburn, Virginia, US, on Sunday, July 28, 2024.
Nathan Howard | Bloomberg | Getty Images
The power needs of artificial intelligence and cloud computing are growing so large that individual data center campuses could soon use more electricity than some cities, and even entire U.S. states, according to companies developing the facilities.
The electricity consumption of data centers has exploded along with their increasingly critical role in the economy in the past 10 years, housing servers that power the applications businesses and consumers rely on for daily tasks.
Now, with the advent of artificial intelligence, data centers are growing so large that finding enough power to drive them and enough suitable land to house them will become increasingly difficult, the developers say. The facilities could increasingly demand a gigawatt or more of power — one billion watts — or about twice the residential electricity consumption of the Pittsburgh area last year.
Technology companies are in a “race of a lifetime to global dominance” in artificial intelligence, said Ali Fenn, president of Lancium, a company that secures land and power for data centers in Texas. “It’s frankly about national security and economic security,” she said. “They’re going to keep spending” because there’s no more profitable place to deploy capital.
Renewable energy alone won’t be sufficient to meet their power needs. Natural gas will have to play a role, developers say, which will slow progress toward meeting carbon dioxide emissions targets.
(See here for which stocks are helping to fix the nation’s power grid.)
Regardless of where the power comes from, data centers are now at a scale where they have started “tapping out against the existing utility infrastructure,” said Nat Sahlstrom, chief energy officer at Tract, a Denver-based company that secures land, infrastructure and power resources for such facilities.
And “the funnel of available of land in this country that’s industrial zone land that can fit the data center use case — it’s becoming more and more constrained,” said Sahlstrom, who previously led Amazon’s energy, water and sustainability teams.
Beyond Virginia
As land and power grow more limited, data centers are expanding into new markets outside the long-established global hub in northern Virginia, Sahlstrom said. The electric grid that serves Virginia is facing looming reliability problems. Power demand is expected to surge, while supply is falling due to the retirement of coal- and some natural gas-powered plants.
Tract, for example, has assembled more than 23,000 acres of land for data center development across the U.S., with large holdings in Maricopa County, Arizona — home to Phoenix — and Storey County, Nevada, near Reno.
Tract recently bought almost 2,100 acres in Buckeye, Arizona with plans to develop the land into one of the largest data center campuses in the country. The privately-held company is working with utilities to secure up to 1.8 gigawatts of power for the site to support as many as 40 individual data centers.
For context, a data center campus with peak demand of one gigawatt is roughly equivalent to the average annual consumption of about 700,000 homes, or a city of around 1.8 million people, according to a CNBC analysis using data from the Department of Energy and Census Bureau.
A data center campus that size would use more power in one year than retail electric sales in Alaska, Rhode Island or Vermont, according to Department of Energy data.
A gigawatt-size data center campus running at even the lower end of peak demand is still roughly comparable to about 330,000 households, or a city of more than 800,000 people — about the population of San Francisco.
The average size of individual data centers operated by the major tech companies is currently around 40 megawatts, but a growing pipeline of campuses of 250 megawatts or more is coming, according to data from the Boston Consulting Group.
The U.S. is expected see a growing number of data center campuses of 500 megawatts or more, equivalent to half a gigawatt, in the 2030s through mid-2040s, according to the BCG data. Facilities of that size are comparable to about 350,000 homes, according to CNBC’s analysis.
“Certainly the average size of the data centers is increasing at a rapid pace from now to 2030,” said Vivian Lee, managing director and partner at BCG.
Community impact
Texas has become an increasingly attractive market due to a less burdensome regulatory environment and abundant energy resources that are more easily tailored to specific sites, Sahlstrom said. “Texas is probably the world’s best experiment lab to deploy your own power solution,” the energy officer said.
Houston-based Lancium set up shop in 2017 with the idea of bringing large electric loads closer to abundant renewable energy resources in west and central Texas, said Fenn, the company’s president. Originally focused on cryptocurrency mining, Lancium later shifted its focus to providing power for artificial intelligence with the advent of ChatGPT in late 2022.
Today, Lancium has five data center campuses in various stages of development. A 1,000-acre campus in Abilene is expected to open in the first quarter of 2025 with 250 megawatts of power that will ramp up to 1.2 gigawatts in 2026.
The minimum power requirement for Lancium’s data center customers is now a gigawatt, and future plans involve scaling them up to between three and five gigawatts, Fenn said.
For data centers that size, developers have to ensure that electricity costs in neighboring communities don’t rise as a consequence and that grid reliability is maintained, Fenn said. Pairing such facilities with new power generation is crucial, she said.
“The data centers have to partner with utilities, the system operators, the communities, to really establish that these things are assets to the grid and not liabilities to the grid,” Fenn said. “Nobody’s going to keep approving” such developments if they push up residential and commercial electric rates.
Renewables not enough
Data center campuses run by publicly-traded Equinix are rising to several hundred megawatts from 100- to 200 megawatts, said Jon Lin, general manager for data center services at the company. Equinix is one of the largest data center operators in the world with 260 facilities spread across 72 metropolitan areas in the U.S. and abroad.
Developers prefer carbon-free renewable energy, but they also see solar and wind alone as unable to meet current demand due to their reliance on changing weather conditions.
Some of the most critical workloads for the world’s economy, such as financial exchanges, run at data centers operated by Equinix, Lin said. Equinix’s data centers are online more than 99% of the time and outages are out of the question, the executive said.
“The firmness of the power is still incredibly important for these data centers, and so doing that solely off of local renewables is candidly just not an option,” Lin said.
The major technology companies are some of the largest purchasers of renewable power in the U.S., but they are increasingly turning to nuclear in search of more reliable sources of electricity. Microsoft is supporting the restart of the Three Mile Island nuclear plant outside Harrisburg, Pennsylvania through a power purchase agreement. Amazon and Alphabet’s Google are investing in small nuclear reactors.
But building new nuclear reactors is expensive and fraught with delays. Two new reactors in Georgia recently came online years behind schedule and billions of dollars over budget.
In the short run, natural gas will fuel much of the power demanded by data centers, Lancium’s Fenn said. Gas is the main, short-term power source providing the reliability these facilities require, Boston Consulting Group’s Lee said.
Investments could be made in new gas generation that adds carbon capture and battery storage technology over time to mitigate the environmental impact, Lee said.
The industry hopes that gas demand will taper off as renewables expand, battery storage costs come down and AI helps data centers operate more efficiently, Fenn said. But in the near term, there’s no question that data center expansion is disrupting technology companies’ emissions targets, she said.
“Hopefully, it’s a short term side step,” Fenn said of stepped-up natural gas usage. “What I’m seeing amongst our data center partners, our hyperscale conversations, is we cannot let this have an adverse effect on the environmental goals.”
Note: CNBC analysis assumes a data center campus is continuously utilizing 85% of its peak demand of a gigawatt throughout the year, for a total consumption of 7.4 billion kilowatt-hours. Analysis uses national averages for household electricity consumption from EIA and household size from Census Bureau.
![From $189 a month: 5 of the best EV lease deals in November [Updated]](https://i0.wp.com/electrek.co/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2025/07/Hyundai-new-IONIQ-6-EV-8.jpeg?resize=1200,628&quality=82&strip=all&ssl=1)
We’re now two months out from the end of the $7,500 federal EV tax credit on September 30, and there are still solid deals to be had on some pretty spiffy EVs. In fact, three of our top five November specials are cheaper than what was offered in September, and two come with home EV chargers and free installation. Here are November’s top 5 EV lease deals, as spotted by our friends at CarsDirect.
2025 Hyundai IONIQ 5 lease from $189/month
The updated 2025 Hyundai IONIQ 5 SE RWD Standard Range is still a standout EV lease deal, holding steady even after the end of the federal EV tax credit and new import tariffs. Through December 1, you can lease one for $189 a month for 36 months (10,000 miles per year) with $3,999 due at signing. That works out to an effective monthly cost of about $300.
The price bump is far smaller than many expected, especially considering Hyundai’s $17,000 in lease cash. And if you’re tempted by an upgrade, the SEL RWD trim is just $50 more per month under the same terms. You’ll get a model that’s roughly $7,000 more in value and $18,750 in savings. The IONIQ 5 SE RWD Standard Range offers an EPA-estimated 245 miles of range, and this particular offer is available in the Los Angeles and greater California metro areas.
Click here to find a local dealer that may have the Hyundai IONIQ 5 in stock. –trusted affiliate link
2025 Hyundai IONIQ 6 lease from $189/month
The 2025 Hyundai IONIQ 6 SE RWD Standard Range is tied with the IONIQ 5 for the most affordable EV lease deal this month, offering standout value even after the federal EV tax credit era. In the California metro area, you can lease it for $189 per month for 36 months (10,000 miles per year) with $3,999 due at signing, and Hyundai is sweetening the deal with $13,000 in lease cash.
That brings the effective monthly cost to around $300. With an EPA-estimated 240 miles of range, 149 horsepower, fast-charging capabilities, and a sleek, distinctive design, the IONIQ 6 remains a fan favorite. This offer is valid through December 1.
Click here to find a local dealer that may have the Hyundai IONIQ 6 in stock. –trusted affiliate link
2025 Ford Mustang Mach-E from $219/month
The 2025 Ford Mustang Mach-E Select RWD with Package 100A is offering bigger savings this month, making it an even stronger pick for EV shoppers. Known for its premium design and an EPA-estimated 300 miles of range, the Mach-E remains a favorite among drivers who want style and substance.
You can now lease it for $219 per month for 24 months (10,500 miles per year), with a down payment of $4,499 due at signing. That’s $20 less per month than the September advertised deal, although the term is shorter. With an effective monthly cost of around $406, it’s only $45 more than before the tax credit ended.
The offer includes $6,750 in lease cash for qualified lessees, plus a free Ford Charging Station Pro with complimentary home installation – a rare perk. If you already have a home charger, you can opt for an additional $2,000 in bonus cash instead. This deal is currently available in California through January 5, 2026.
Click here to find a local dealer that may have the Ford Mustang Mach-E in stock. –trusted affiliate link
2025 Honda Prologue from $239/month
Until January 5, the 2025 Honda Prologue, with a 308-mile range, can be leased for $239 a month for 36 months (10,000 miles) and $1,199 due at signing in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Maryland. That means the Prologue has an effective monthly cost of $272, making it a great value.
For those in California and other CARB-emission states, you can lease for $279 for 36 months (10,000 miles) and $1,299 due at signing, resulting in an effective monthly cost of $315. This was the best-priced lease deal before the new East Coast three-state offer.
The price includes a $3,300 loyalty discount or conquest cash, available only to those currently leasing a Honda or planning to switch from another manufacturer in select states. If you aren’t living in California, Florida, New York, or other select states, you’re still eligible for a bonus of $2,000.
These bonuses are stackable with the $5,000 dealer cash, $8,250 Honda lease cash, and a $1,500 additional lease bonus, which replaces the $7,500 tax credit.
Click here to find a local dealer that may have the Honda Prologue in stock. –trusted affiliate link
2025 Ford F-150 Lightning from $279/month
You can now lease a 2025 Ford F-150 Lightning 4×4 Super Crew XLT w/ Pkg 311A for a low monthly payment of $279 for 36 months (10,500 miles) and $6,729 due at signing. With an MSRP of $65,190, that makes the effective monthly cost of $466. It has an EPA-estimated range of 240 miles and 452 hp.
That’s $23 less a month than the advertised September lease deal with the federal tax credit. The offer includes $9,500 in lease cash and, like the Mach-e, a complimentary home EV charger and installation or an additional $2,000 in savings. This offer is available in California through January 5, 2026.
Click here to find a local dealer that may have the Ford F-150 Lightning in stock. –trusted affiliate link
The 30% federal solar tax credit is ending this year. If you’ve ever considered going solar, now’s the time to act. To make sure you find a trusted, reliable solar installer near you that offers competitive pricing, check out EnergySage, a free service that makes it easy for you to go solar. It has hundreds of pre-vetted solar installers competing for your business, ensuring you get high-quality solutions and save 20-30% compared to going it alone. Plus, it’s free to use, and you won’t get sales calls until you select an installer and share your phone number with them.
Your personalized solar quotes are easy to compare online and you’ll get access to unbiased Energy Advisors to help you every step of the way. Get started here.
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The new Nexo is a significant upgrade over the first model, but will Hyundai’s fuel cell EV make an impression in the US?
Meet the new Hyundai Nexo fuel cell EV
Hyundai is launching a slate of new vehicles, ranging from EVs to plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) and even fuel-cell electric vehicles.
First launched in 2018, the Nexo marked a milestone as Hyundai’s first dedicated hydrogen fuel cell vehicle. Although it wasn’t exactly a hit due to the lack of hydrogen fueling stations, especially in the US, Hyundai is taking another crack at the market with its new and improved fuel cell EV.
Hyundai introduced the new Nexo earlier this year, claiming it’s “poised to set a new standard for zero-emission transportation.”
With significant upgrades to its fuel cell and power electronics systems, the new Nexo features up to 190 kW total output and a WLTP driving range of up to 513 miles (826 km) from a five-minute hydrogen refill.
It also boasts features such as Active Noise Control, road-noise-canceling tech, sound-absorbing tires, e-Handling, and a Smart Regenerative System (SRS), which delivers a smooth, quiet ride.
Inside, Hyundai’s new Connected Car Navigation Cockpit (ccNC) sits at the center, featuring dual 12.3″ driver cluster and infotainment screens. The setup includes OTA updates and wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.
Like its battery electric vehicles, the new Nexo offers vehicle-to-load (V2L) capabilities, enabling you to power electronics on the go.
A digital center mirror and digital side mirrors are available in select markets (not the US), replacing the traditional mirrors. In addition, the European-spec version can tow up to 1,000 kg (2,200 lbs), the first fuel cell EV to offer that level of capability.
The Nexo is 4,750 mm long, 1,865 mm wide, and 1,640 mm tall, with a wheelbase of 4,750 mm, or about the size of a Honda CR-V.
Although Hyundai is committed to expanding FCEV infrastructure, it might not be enough to lure buyers in the US.
Hyundai said the new Nexo fuel cell EV is already a hit in South Korea, where hydrogen fueling stations far outnumber those in the US. The company sold nearly 7,000 new Nexo models globally through August, more than four times the previous generation’s sales in the same period last year.
Will the new and improved Nexo make a bigger impact? According to Car and Driver, which test drove the updated FCEV, “the compact Nexo will need far more than clever engineering to make it big in the US.” In Hyundai’s home market, it’s already proving more popular.
Hyundai will launch the new fuel cell EV in other global markets starting in early 2026.
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Environment
Aptera is building an assembly line for validation solar EVs en route to scaled manufacturing
Solar EV startup Aptera Motors continues to inch closer to scaled manufacturing of its flagship vehicle, with a new validation assembly line being installed at its headquarters.
The last thirty days or so have been busy for Aptera Motors – “little engine that still might” in the nascent (and lonely) segment of solar EV startups. Last month, the startup finally went public, opting for a direct listing on the Nasdaq instead of an IPO or SPAC merger.
As reported by Electrek’s Fred Lambert, this move was somewhat concerning for Aptera, as it will not directly benefit the company financially from the stock listing. Furthermore, Aptera consistently seems to be paving the financial runway directly in front of it, enabling it to keep pushing forward. Per the startup’s recent SEC filing:
This prospectus relates to the registration of the resale of up to 31,741,948 shares of our non-voting Class B common stock… We will not receive any proceeds from the sale of shares of Class B common stock by the registered stockholders.
However, right before going public as $SEV, Aptera announced a large chunk of equity financing to continue solar EV development and get its assembly lines up and humming. Per the company:
Aptera Motors Corp. (“Aptera”), the solar mobility company focused on developing highly efficient vehicles, today announced it has entered into share purchase agreement providing for up to $75 million of committed equity financing (the “ELOC”) with New Circle Principal Investments LLC, an affiliate of leading growth-focused investor New Circle Capital.
Less than a month later, Aptera’s team is pushing forward with another development milestone – building out its validation vehicle assembly line, which lays the groundwork for future scaled solar EV production.
Aptera is laying the foundation for scaled SEV assembly
According to a press release posted by Aptera this morning, the building of its validation assembly line is now underway in Carlsbad, California. In addition to assembling full-fledged validation vehicles, Aptera can now transcend from unsystematic prototype builds to a more structured assembly process that is scalable and repeatable. Apter co-founder and co-CEO, Steve Fambro, shared a similar sentiment:
Seeing this line come to life signals the next phase for Aptera,” added Steve Fambro, Co-CEO. “It’s the bridge between our prototype builds and the preproduction and series production systems that we aim to one day use to deliver solar mobility at scale.
Seeing this line come to life signals the next phase for Aptera. It’s the bridge between our prototype builds and the preproduction and series production systems that we aim to one day use to deliver solar mobility at scale.
As you can see in the images above, Aptera is stockpiling key components for validation assembly processes, including body-in-carbon (BinC) parts. Per the SEV startup a large-scale precision assembly fixture is the heart of its new validation line, enabling the vehicle’s BinC)to be built with “exceptional dimensional accuracy.”
The fixture will also serve as the baseline for future low-volume production vehicle assembly. This pending process will not only give Aptera techs the first opportunity to establish defined steps in assembly. Still, it will also offer a proving ground to optimize those processes, from component handling to final fit and finish. Aptera’s other CEO, Chris Anthony, also spoke about the latest development milestone:
This marks an important moment in Aptera’s journey. For the first time, our technicians will be assembling vehicles along a defined sequence of stations, using processes developed hand-in-hand with the engineers who designed them.
With vehicle materials now in stock, Aptera has officially begun assembling validation vehicles through its repeatable process en route to pre-production. Then, God willing, bona fide customer vehicle builds will follow. Hold your horses, though, because Aptera still needs more money to get there.
We often celebrate Aptera for its transparency, which is evident in its latest press release, in which the startup announced that it will require an additional $65 million in funding to continue through this new validation assembly stage and into low-volume production.
As always, the deck is stacked against this solar EV startup, but it continues on, and we love to see it. Remember, you can still reserve an Aptera solar EV for only $70 down if you use this link.
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