Google AI expansion drives 37% jump in electricity use in 2025

Google reported that its electricity consumption rose by 37% in 2025, the largest annual increase in the company's history. The surge is tied to the rapid growth of AI‑focused data centers, with total electricity use up more than 250% since 2019. Data centers alone consumed about 42 million megawatt‑hours in 2025, a level comparable to the national consumption of countries such as New Zealand, Denmark and Nigeria.

Water use at the facilities also climbed, reaching 10.9 billion gallons— a 34% rise from the previous year and more than double the 2021 level. Greenhouse‑gas emissions grew 18% in the same period, driven largely by the production of AI hardware and an increase in supply‑chain emissions of 25%. Google says operational emissions fell 2% and emissions from electricity fell 3%, while the firm purchased a record 12 gigawatts of new renewable power to offset its energy demand. The company’s total carbon footprint for 2025 was about 14.5 million tonnes of CO₂‑equivalent.