Modeling Puts the Data Center Wholesale Tab Near Half a Trillion by 2035

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✓What's documented Quantified scenario modeling with stated assumptions; UCS is a clean-energy advocacy organization, so treat the figure as a projection with a policy viewpoint.

UCS modeled the wholesale electricity cost attributable to data center demand growth and put it at $411 billion to $524 billion cumulatively from 2026 to 2035, rising to $886 billion to $978 billion by 2050. The number is a modeled projection, not a measured cost, and UCS advocates for clean energy solutions, so the framing favors that path. Worth carrying for the order of magnitude, with the caveat stated.

• Projects $411 billion to $524 billion in cumulative data-center-driven wholesale costs, 2026 to 2035.
• Extends to $886 billion to $978 billion through 2050, about 18% of total U.S. wholesale electricity costs.
• These are scenario-modeled figures with stated assumptions, not historical measurements.
• Published by the Union of Concerned Scientists, a clean-energy advocacy organization, January 2026.