The Energy Information Administration’s latest Short-Term Energy Outlook, released July 7, projects power consumption will set records in both 2026 and 2027, driven largely by the insatiable energy appetite of AI data centers. Total US electricity consumption is expected to hit 4,269 billion kWh this year, up from 4,195 billion kWh in 2025. Next year, it climbs again to 4,399 billion kWh. For context, American power demand was essentially flat for about 15 years before this recent surge, so a back-to-back record-setting stretch is genuinely unusual. That would mark the first time commercial demand has exceeded residential demand in the US.