A new analysis finds that data centers could account for as much as 20 percent of total US electricity consumption by 2035, with Virginia and Texas identified as states where residential electricity bills face the steepest projected increases. The report ties rising bills directly to data center load growth in those markets, where utility infrastructure is already under strain. If AI investment slows, the cost-shifting dynamic could shift as well, since large industrial customers currently contribute to shared fixed-cost recovery.
A 20 percent national consumption share would make data centers the single largest industrial electricity consumer category in the US, reshaping utility rate design, state energy policy, and infrastructure investment priorities. Virginia and Texas, already the two largest data center markets, would bear the sharpest affordability pressure.
The specific 20 percent by 2035 figure and the named states Virginia and Texas triggered selection; this story adds documented state-level bill impact detail not covered by the previously published Newsweek demand-forecast item. 1 similar article covering power demand forecasts was reviewed but not selected.