Datacenters driving US clean energy growth while still threatening climate
Summary
Datacenters in the US are rapidly increasing the demand for electricity, leading to growth in renewable energy like wind and solar. However, they also cause more use of fossil fuels because utilities are building new gas plants or keeping old coal ones to meet the high power needs. Delays in grid connections force tech companies to invest in their own solar, batteries, and clean energy solutions.Key Facts
- Datacenters are boosting the clean energy sector by increasing demand for wind, solar, and batteries.
- Utilities are building new fossil fuel plants or running old ones to supply power for datacenters.
- The gas industry, supported by President Trump’s administration, is powering much of the datacenter growth.
- Problems like supply delays and regulation are causing up to 12-year waits for datacenters to connect to the electric grid.
- Tech companies like Google and Microsoft invest heavily in their own renewable energy projects for datacenters.
- The clean energy industry had dropped in value from 2021 to early 2025 but recently rose with datacenter growth.
- Renewable projects linked to datacenters are being built even in states without strict renewable energy rules.
- Some parts of the clean energy market, like rooftop solar for homes, are not benefiting much from the datacenter demand.
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