The U.S. Department of Energy’s information service will launch a series of pilot investigations on Wednesday to assess the energy consumption of the country’s data centers, the agency’s administrator told Reuters. Silicon Valley is investing hundreds of billions of dollars in expanding energy-intensive data centers across the United States, but the extent of the energy consumption surge in this sector remains uncertain. Surveys show that Americans are concerned about whether the energy needs of artificial intelligence will increase their electricity bills, as technology giants consider using nuclear energy, natural gas, or coal to power their data centers.
“This is really a data exploration exercise to understand exactly what is happening in this very important part of the economy that we don’t have much visibility on,” said Tristan Abbey, director of the Energy Information Administration, at the CERAWeek conference in Houston.
The EIA will begin the investigations in three states before expanding to others. Virginia, home to the largest concentration of data centers in the world, is one of these three states, along with Washington and Texas.
The initial questions of the investigation aim to determine if data centers have backup power supply and, if so, what types of fuels they use, according to Tristan Abbey.
“In the long term, we will have a patchwork of different elements that we know, and we will be able to launch a traditional type of investigation,” said Tristan Abbey.
In 2024, the EIA launched an investigation into cryptocurrency mining operations, which are a different type of data center, using emergency authority. The investigation was halted after two cryptocurrency mining companies filed a lawsuit, claiming the investigation was rushed and invasive.
Tristan Abbey, who took office last September, said this pilot investigation would be implemented gradually.
