Impact Suite

Surged ~17% in 2025 to ~485 TWh; set to roughly double to ~950 TWh by 2030. [11] IEA [1] IEA

This electricity has to be paid for — the next chart shows where the money comes from.

The five largest tech firms spent $400B+ in 2025 and are set to raise it ~75% in 2026 — most of it AI infrastructure. [11] IEA

This spending builds the data centers that consume the electricity above — and drives the price spike below.

From $28.92 to the $333.44 cap in three years; the grid's market watchdog pinned ~63% of the jump on data centers. [12] RTO Insider [5] Utility Dive

This cost gets passed to electricity bills — that's where regular people start paying for the AI buildout.

Thousands to build (~800–1,200 at peak); ~25–50 to run it. Billions of capex, dozens of permanent staff. [8] Brookings

The construction boom is real but temporary — and it pulls workers from housing and other projects that also need them.