Google’s electricity demand is skyrocketing

We got two big pieces of energy news from Google this week. The company announced that it’s signed an agreement to purchase electricity from a fusion company’s forthcoming first power plant. Google also released its latest environmental report, which shows that its energy use from data centers has doubled since 2020.

Taken together, these two bits of news offer a fascinating look at just how desperately big tech companies are hunting for clean electricity to power their data centers as energy demand and emissions balloon in the age of AI. Of course, we don’t know exactly how much of this pollution is attributable to AI because Google doesn’t break that out. (Also a problem!) So, what’s next and what does this all mean? 

Let’s start with fusion: Google’s deal with Commonwealth Fusion Systems is intended to provide the tech giant with 200 megawatts of power. This will come from Commonwealth’s first commercial plant, a facility planned for Virginia that the company refers to as the Arc power plant. The agreement represents half its capacity.

What’s important to note here is that this power plant doesn’t exist yet. In fact, Commonwealth still needs to get its Sparc demonstration reactor, located outside Boston, up and running. That site, which I visited in the fall, should be completed in 2026.

(An aside: This isn’t the first deal between Big Tech and a fusion company. Microsoft signed an agreement with Helion a couple of years ago to buy 50 megawatts of power from a planned power plant, scheduled to come online in 2028. Experts expressed skepticism in the wake of that deal, as my colleague James Temple reported.)

Nonetheless, Google’s announcement is a big moment for fusion, in part because of the size of the commitment and also because Commonwealth, a spinout company from MIT’s Plasma Science and Fusion Center, is seen by many in the industry as a likely candidate to be the first to get a commercial plant off the ground. (MIT Technology Review is owned by MIT but is editorially independent.)

Google leadership was very up-front about the length of the timeline. “We would certainly put this in the long-term category,” said Michael Terrell, Google’s head of advanced energy, in a press call about the deal.

The news of Google’s foray into fusion comes just days after the tech giant’s release of its latest environmental report. While the company highlighted some wins, some of the numbers in this report are eye-catching, and not in a positive way.

Google’s emissions have increased by over 50% since 2019, rising 6% in the last year alone. That’s decidedly the wrong direction for a company that’s set a goal to reach net-zero greenhouse-gas emissions by the end of the decade.

It’s true that the company has committed billions to clean energy projects, including big investments in next-generation technologies like advanced nuclear and enhanced geothermal systems. Those deals have helped dampen emissions growth, but it’s an arguably impossible task to keep up with the energy demand the company is seeing.

Google’s electricity consumption from data centers was up 27% from the year before. It’s doubled since 2020, reaching over 30 terawatt-hours. That’s nearly the annual electricity consumption from the entire country of Ireland.

As an outsider, it’s tempting to point the finger at AI, since that technology has crashed into the mainstream and percolated into every corner of Google’s products and business. And yet the report downplays the role of AI. Here’s one bit that struck me:

“However, it’s important to note that our growing electricity needs aren’t solely driven by AI. The accelerating growth of Google Cloud, continued investments in Search, the expanding reach of YouTube, and more, have also contributed to this overall growth.”

There is enough wiggle room in that statement to drive a large electric truck through. When I asked about the relative contributions here, company representative Mara Harris said via email that they don’t break out what portion comes from AI. When I followed up asking if the company didn’t have this information or just wouldn’t share it, she said she’d check but didn’t get back to me.

I’ll make the point here that we’ve made before, including in our recent package on AI and energy: Big companies should be disclosing more about the energy demands of AI. We shouldn’t be guessing at this technology’s effects.

Google has put a ton of effort and resources into setting and chasing ambitious climate goals. But as its energy needs and those of the rest of the industry continue to explode, it’s obvious that this problem is getting tougher, and it’s also clear that more transparency is a crucial part of the way forward.

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