Energy: Data Centres
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, pursuant to Answer of 19 June 2026 to Question 8970, whether his Department has established a maximum planning assumption for electricity demand from AI-capable data centres.
Answered by Michael Shanks
The Department’s published energy demand forecasts do not separately identify or report electricity demand from data centres. Instead, data centres are included within broader economic and sectoral electricity demand projections, including the wider computer services and information technology sectors.
The Department is working closely with other departments and NESO to understand the factors driving demand projections, including estimates on efficiency, ramp-rate and utilisation rate of AI-capable data centres. Due to the rapid acceleration and high degree of uncertainty in demand projections, the Department is testing a range of scenarios to understand the potential implications.
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