Koomey: IEA data center electricity estimates varied by 50% in 2024
John Koomey · A skeptic’s take on AI electricity load growth · Mar 6, 2025 · at 12:24
Energy researcher John Koomey explains the lack of precision in historical baseline data center power statistics, citing revisions by the International Energy Agency.
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“So for the year, 20, 22, the International Energy Agency did these projections. They did two of them in, in, in, 20, 24, and they started by trying to do history, and they looked at twenty-twenty-two, and the first study they released in January had a number that was 50% greater than the second study that they released in October, and so even the same institution looking at a historical year Had this uncertainty. They identified an uncertainty range of 220 to 340 terawatt hours per year for global data center electricity.”
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