By Scott DiSavino
NEW YORK, Oct 6 (Reuters) – US power consumption will rise to record highs in 2026 and 2027, driven by AI-hungry data centers and electrification, the US Energy Information Administration said in its Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO) on Tuesday.
The EIA projected that power demand will rise from a record 4,195 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) in 2025 to 4,288 billion kWh in 2026 and 4,356 billion kWh in 2027.
Demand is surging largely due to data centers dedicated to artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency. Homes and businesses have also been using more electricity and less fossil fuels for heat and transportation.
The EIA forecast that US wholesale electricity prices would average $52 per megawatt hour in 2026, 11% more than in 2025, primarily due to extreme weather events such as winter storms and higher-than-average summer temperatures.
Although prices across most hubs have remained relatively stable in 2026, EIA said that wholesale prices in the Mid-Atlantic and Midwest PJM region are set to increase by 41% while prices in the Pacific Northwest Mid-Columbia region are expected to fall by 23%.
The EIA forecast that power sales in 2026 will rise to 1,541 billion kWh for residential consumers, 1,549 billion kWh for commercial customers and 1,055 billion kWh for industrial customers.
Those forecasts compare with all-time highs of 1,515 billion kWh for residential consumers and 1,493 billion kWh for commercial customers in 2025 and 1,064 billion kWh for industrial customers in 2000.
As renewable output rises, the EIA said the share of power generation from coal will slide from 17% in 2025 to 16% in 2026 and 15% in 2027, while the share of natural gas will hold at 40% in 2026, the same as in 2025, before easing to 39% in 2027.
The percentage of renewable generation will rise from around 24% in 2025 to 25% in 2026 and 27% in 2027, while nuclear power’s share will hold at 18% in 2026 and 2027, the same as in 2025, according to the outlook.
The EIA projected that gas sales in 2026 would slide to 12.5 billion cubic feet per day for residential consumers and 9.5 bcfd for commercial customers, but rise to 23.8 bcfd for industrial customers and 37.0 bcfd for power generation.
Those figures compare with all-time highs of 14.3 bcfd in 1996 for residential consumers, 9.9 bcfd in 2025 for commercial customers, 23.8 bcfd in 1973 for industrial customers, and 36.8 bcfd in 2024 for power generation.
(Reporting by Scott DiSavino; Editing by David Gregorio)
Comments