AI data centers are being proposed across the Midwest, including here in Wisconsin. While many developers have not disclosed the power demands of these projects, some have. These disclosures reveal the power needs of AI data centers will be substantial. This analysis helps contextualize AI data center power demand for the general public by comparing it with household consumption.
Key Points
- Two AI Data Centers Require More Energy Than All Wisconsin Homes Combined: Just two AI data center projects — the Microsoft data center in Mt. Pleasant and Vantage data center in Port Washington — will require a combined 3.9 gigawatts (GW) of electric power, which is enough energy to power 4.3 million Wisconsin homes. There are only 2.8 million housing units in the entire state.
- Energy Needs Triple the Capacity of Wisconsin Nuclear Plant: The energy needs of these two AI data centers is more than three times the power production capacity of the Point Beach nuclear reactor, which is Wisconsin’s single largest producer of energy.
- Data Centers are Proliferating: Wisconsin’s energy utilities are often involved in the early planning of AI data center projects, sometimes playing an active role in bringing them to our state.
Summary
Based on publicly available data, the Microsoft data center in Mt. Pleasant and Vantage data center in Port Washington are expected to need a combined 3.9 gigawatts of power — more than the energy use of every home in Wisconsin combined. Because only two of the data center projects have disclosed their power needs, we know this is really just a fraction of what the energy use would be if all those data centers are ultimately built.
Power is a measure of the rate at which electricity is being consumed. Household energy consumption is measured in kilowatt-hours (kWh). Energy is the total amount of electricity used over time (i.e., multiplying power by time). To facilitate this analysis and directly compare power vs. energy numbers, we had to make a few assumptions. First, we assumed a 100% load factor at the data centers. That is, the data centers are operating 24 hours a day, 365 days a year with a constant power demand (3.9 GW). Actual utilization may be lower than this. Second, we applied average monthly household electricity consumption in Wisconsin across all 12 months, assuming a continuous power draw.
Important Takeaways
- Transparency is Scarce: Of the at least least five proposed or approved AI data center projects across the state, just two have disclosed information about potential energy use.
- AI Data Centers Likely to Cause Surge in Energy Demand: Of the proposed data centers, known energy needs for just two of them would eclipse the amount of energy used by every home in Wisconsin combined.
- Energy Needs Raise Concerns Over Indirect Water Use: AI data center facilities will not only use water on site, but the power plants built to serve them will also need water. For example, gas-fired power plants use 2,803 gallons of water per MWh of energy produced.
