Just before President Joe Biden issued a last-minute order to stimulate tech companies' development of artificial intelligence, a report from his Energy Department highlighted the skyrocketing energy consumption, water use, and emissions from data centers amidst rising electricity costs, droughts, and climate disasters. On January 14, Biden issued an executive order for the Energy and Defense Departments to lease federal lands to private companies to "build AI infrastructure at speed and scale. " “The Executive Order supports an AI infrastructure buildout that maintains national security, boosts competitiveness, powers AI with clean energy, ensures AI safety, keeps consumer prices low, demonstrates responsible technology scaling, and fosters a competitive AI environment, ” Biden stated. The AI industry already uses more energy annually than 16. 3 million American households, with studies indicating rising energy use is increasing electricity prices for consumers. The executive order follows a Department of Energy report predicting a surge in data center energy use—particularly AI centers—potentially reaching 12 percent of total U. S. electricity consumption by 2028. According to scientists at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, data center energy use more than doubled from 2017 to 2023 due to AI and Bitcoin mining. This increase follows a stable period during the 2010s. Data center construction types have significantly transformed. Traditionally, data was stored on-site in office buildings, but now many companies utilize off-site, energy-heavy cloud computing facilities. The report found that, in 2023, U. S. data centers used 176 terawatt hours—4. 4 percent of all U. S. electricity, or more than all California households combined. By 2028, energy use is projected to reach 325 to 580 terawatt-hours annually—6. 7 to 12 percent of U. S.

consumption, comparable to power usage by 30 to 53 million households. This surge in energy use can impact consumer costs. A study by the Jack Kemp Foundation, a public policy nonprofit, indicated electricity bills could rise by up to 70 percent due to AI data center demands. Data centers are also consuming vast water amounts. In 2014, they indirectly used over 5. 6 billion gallons for cooling and other purposes. The Energy Department's report states this increased to over 211 billion gallons in 2023—exceeding usage by 1. 76 million U. S. households annually. The report's authors did not estimate future environmental impacts due to "potential future changes in the electricity mix, " yet noted, "With projected growth in data center energy use, indirect water consumption and emissions are expected to rise. " Biden's order requires new data centers to use clean energy, such as geothermal energy. However, this may be in jeopardy with President-elect Donald Trump assuming office on January 20.