Consumption of electricity in the U.S. commercial sector has recovered from pandemic levels, with annual U.S. sales of electricity to commercial customers in 2023 totaling 14 billion kilowatthours , or 1%, more than in 2019. However, the growth in commercial demand for electricity is concentrated in a handful of states experiencing rapid development of large-scale computing facilities such as data centers.
Electricity demand has grown the most in Virginia, largely driven by Dominion Energy Virginia, the main electricity utility in the state. Virginia has become a major hub for data centers, withElectricity demand also grew substantially in Texas, where relatively low costs for electricity and land have attracted a high concentration of data centers and cryptocurrency mining operations. North Dakota stands out with the fastest relative growth at 37% between 2019 and 2023, attributed to the.
In contrast, demand for electricity by the commercial sector in some large states such as New York, Illinois, and California has been flat or has declined compared with 2019.. After reviewing information and projections from utilities and grid operators in the areas of the country with rapid data center development, we revised our forecasts upward for commercial electricity demand through 2025.
We made our largest revisions to the forecast in the South Atlantic and West South Central census divisions, which together account for 40% of U.S. commercial electricity demand. We now expect that commercial consumption in the South Atlantic will increase by 5% in 2024 and 2% in 2025 and in West South Central by 3% this year and 1% next year. Other regions with strong growth in sales of electricity to the commercial sector include the West North Central and Mountain census divisions .
Nationally, we expect U.S. sales of electricity to the commercial sector will grow by 3% in 2024 and by 1% in 2025. Data center developments are evolving rapidly, and we plan to re-evaluate our upcoming forecasts as we receive more information.The EIA collects, analyzes, and disseminates independent and impartial energy information to promote sound policymaking, efficient markets, and public understanding of energy and its interaction with the economy and the environment.