IEA: power use to soar through 2027, but renewables will keep up
The International Energy Agency’s (IEA) newly released “Electricity 2025” report predicts that global power consumption will jump nearly 4% annually through 2027. That’s like adding an entire Japan’s worth of electricity use every year for the next three years.
The report points to a few key drivers behind this surge: industrial expansion, the rising need for air conditioning, the electrification of transportation, and the explosion of data centers. And most of this growth – about 85% – is coming from emerging and developing economies.
China is leading the charge, with electricity demand outpacing its overall economic growth since 2020. In 2024 alone, China’s electricity consumption shot up by 7%, and it’s expected to keep climbing at an average rate of 6% per year through 2027. The country’s booming industrial sector plays a big role, especially in energy-hungry manufacturing like solar panels, EV batteries, and EVs themselves. The rapid adoption of air conditioning, EVs, data centers, and 5G networks is also pushing demand higher.
“The acceleration of global electricity demand highlights the significant changes taking place in energy systems around the world and the approach of a new Age of Electricity. But it also presents evolving challenges for governments in ensuring secure, affordable, and sustainable electricity supply,” said IEA director of energy markets and security Keisuke Sadamori. “While emerging and developing economies are set to drive the large majority of the growth in global electricity demand in the coming years, consumption is also expected to increase in many advanced economies after a period of relative stagnation. Policymakers need to pay close attention to these shifting dynamics.”
In the US, electricity demand is set to grow so much that it will add the equivalent of California’s total power consumption to the grid over the next three years. Europe, on the other hand, will see more modest growth, with demand only returning to 2021 levels by 2027 after significant drops during the energy crisis in 2022 and 2023.
The good news is that renewables and nuclear power are expected to keep up with this rising demand. According to the report, growth in low-emission energy sources should be enough to cover the global increase in electricity use through 2027. Solar power is expected to do the heavy lifting, meeting roughly half of the world’s additional demand, thanks to continued cost drops and strong policy support. In 2024, solar power generation in the EU surpassed coal for the first time, making up over 10% of the region’s electricity mix. China, the U.S., and India are all expected to hit that same 10% solar share milestone by 2027.
Meanwhile, nuclear energy is making a strong comeback, with its generation expected to hit new highs each year from 2025 onward. Thanks to these trends, carbon emissions from global electricity generation are expected to level off in the coming years after rising about 1% in 2024.
The report also dives into the challenges that electricity grids faced in 2024, from winter storms in the US and hurricanes in the Atlantic to blackouts caused by extreme weather in Brazil and Australia. Droughts in Ecuador, Colombia, and Mexico further strained hydropower generation. These events underscore the need for more resilient power grids.
Weather plays a huge role in electricity supply, and the report highlights rising volatility in wholesale electricity prices in some regions. One growing issue is negative wholesale electricity prices, which occur when supply outstrips demand. While still rare, these incidents signal a need for greater grid flexibility – something policymakers and utilities will need to tackle as electricity demand keeps climbing.
Dave Jones, insights director at global energy think tank Ember, said:
The Age of Electricity has to be the Age of Clean Electricity to realize the cost, security, and climate benefits of electrification. Following the IEA’s increased forecast for demand growth, new clean generation is now set only to meet the rise – not exceed it.
More investment in clean electricity is needed; otherwise, coal and gas generation could be at the same record levels in 2027 as they were in 2024.
Read more: IEA: Countries need to ramp up energy efficiency to hit 2030 target
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Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey testifies during a remote video hearing held by subcommittees of the U.S. House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee on “Social Media’s Role in Promoting Extremism and Misinformation” in Washington, U.S., March 25, 2021.
Handout | Via Reuters
Block jumped more than 5% on Monday, leading a rally in shares of fintech companies as analysts downplayed the threat of JPMorgan Chase’s reported plan to charge data aggregators for access to customer financial information.
The recovery followed steep declines on Friday, after Bloomberg reported that JPMorgan had circulated pricing sheets outlining potential fees for aggregators like Plaid and Yodlee, which connect fintech platforms to users’ bank data.
In a note to clients on Monday, Evercore ISI analysts said the potential new expenses were “far from a ‘business model-breaking’ cost increase.”
In addition to Block’s rise, PayPal climbed 3.5% on Monday after sliding Friday. Robinhood and Shift4 recorded modest gains.
Broader market momentum helped fuel some of the rebound. The Nasdaq closed at a record, and crypto rallied, with bitcoin climbing past $123,000. Ether, solana, and other altcoins also gained.
Evercore ISI’s analysts said that even if JPMorgan’s changes were implemented, the most immediate effect would be a slight bump in the cost of one-time account setups — perhaps 50 to 60 cents.
Morgan Stanley echoed that view, writing that any impact would be “negligible,” especially for large fintechs that rely more on debit, credit, or stored balances than bank account pulls for transactions.
PayPal doesn’t anticipate much short-term impact, according to a person with knowledge of the issue. The person, who asked not to be named in order to speak about private financial matters, noted that PayPal relies on aggregators primarily for account verification and already has long-term pricing contracts in place.
While smaller fintechs that depend heavily on automated clearing house (ACH) rails or Open Banking frameworks for onboarding and compliance may face real pressure if the fees take effect, analysts said the larger platforms are largely insulated.
WATCH: Congress moves to redraw $3.7 trillion crypto market rules, opening door to Wall Street
The global EV market is still charging ahead. According to new numbers from global research firm Rho Motion, 9.1 million EVs were sold worldwide in the first half of 2025, up 28% compared to the same period last year. But not every region is accelerating at the same pace.
China and Europe are doing the heavy lifting
More than half of the world’s EVs this year have been bought in China. That market hit 5.5 million sales in the first six months of 2025 – a 32% jump year-over-year. Around half of new cars bought in China are now electric.
While some Chinese cities’ subsidies have dried up, Rho Motion expects momentum to pick back up later in the year as more funding is released.
In Europe, 2 million EVs were sold in the first half of the year, up 26%. Battery electric vehicle (BEV) sales also rose 26%, thanks in part to affordable models like the Renault 4 (pictured) and 5 entering the market. Plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) weren’t far behind, growing 27% year-to-date. Chinese automakers are leaning into PHEVs as a way to work around the EU’s new tariffs on BEVs.
Spain is leading the pack with EV sales soaring 85% so far this year. Its generous MOVES III incentive program was extended in April and has kept sales strong. The UK and Germany are also seeing solid growth – 32% and 40%, respectively. France, however, is slumping. With subsidies cut, EV sales there have dropped 13%.
North America is stuck in the slow lane
Things aren’t looking quite as bright in North America. EV sales in the US, Canada, and Mexico are up just 3% so far this year.
Mexico is the one bright spot, with a 20% boost. The US is up 6%. But Canada is down a whopping 23%.
And things could get bumpier. On July 4, Trump signed Congress’s big bill into law, which axes all the Inflation Reduction Act EV tax credits. Those consumer credits for EVs now officially end on September 30.
Just over half of the EVs sold in the US this year qualified for those credits. Rho Motion predicts a rush in Q3 before the subsidies disappear – and a decline in sales after that.
Rho Motion data manager Charles Lester said, “With Trump’s latest cuts in his ‘Big Beautiful Bill,’ the US could struggle to see any growth in the EV market overall in 2025.”
Global EV sales snapshot, H1 2025 vs H1 2024
- Global: 9.1 million (+28%)
- China: 5.5 million (+32%)
- Europe: 2.0 million (+26%)
- North America: 0.9 million (+3%)
- Rest of world: 0.7 million (+40%)
Read more: China breaks records as global EV sales hit 7.2 million in 2025
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Lucid’s electric sedan can drive further, charge faster, and packs more advanced tech than most of the competition. That might explain why it’s leading the segment. The Lucid Air remained the best-selling luxury EV sedan in the US after widening its lead in the Q2.
The Lucid Air is America’s best-selling luxury EV sedan
The 2025 Lucid Air Pure arrived as the “World’s most efficient car” with an EPA-estimated range of 420 miles and a record 146 MPGe.
It just set a new Guinness World Record last week for the longest journey by an electric car after travelling 749 miles (1,205 km) on a single charge.
That record was set in the range-topping Lucid Air Grand Touring model, which is rated for up to 512 miles of EPA-estimated range. On the WLTP scale, it’s rated at 597 miles (960 km). Either way, it still crushed the estimates.
According to second-quarter sales data, released by Kelley Blue Book on Monday, the Lucid Air is still America’s best-selling luxury EV.
Lucid sold 2,630 Air models in Q2, up 10% from the previous year. Through the first half of 2025, Lucid Air sales are up 17% with 5,094 units sold.
Tesla, on the other hand, only sold 1,435 Model Ss during the quarter, 71% fewer than it did in Q2 2024. Tesla Model S sales in the US are down 70% through the first half of the year at 2,715.
Although Porsche Taycan sales were up 32% with 1,064 models sold, the significantly upgraded 2025 model year was expected to see even more demand. Porsche has 2,083 Taycans in the US this year, up just 1% from 2024.
Other luxury EV sedans, such as the BMW i5 (1,434), i7 (820), and the Mercedes EQS (498), experienced steep double-digit sales declines year-over-year.
And it’s not just electric luxury sedans. The Lucid Air is currently outselling many gas-powered vehicles in its segment.
Lucid’s first electric SUV, the Gravity, is also rolling out. Although only five were sold in the second quarter, Lucid is quickly scaling production. Lucid aims to produce 20,000 vehicles this year, more than double the roughly 9,000 it built in 2024.
Earlier today, Lucid’s interim CEO, Marc Winterhoff, confirmed during an interview with Bloomberg that the company expects higher Gravity output in the second half of the year.
The interview was at the grand opening of Panasonic’s new battery cell plant in De Soto, Kansas. Winterhoff said Lucid will start using new cells from the facility, but not until next year.
Lucid’s CEO stressed the importance of establishing a local supply chain, as policy changes under the Trump Administration are taking effect. Lucid and Panasonic are collaborating to localize EV materials, such as graphite. Last month, Lucid secured a multi-year supply agreement with Graphite One for US-sourced Graphite.
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