A new BloombergNEF forecast shows U.S. data centers will be using an estimated 18 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day by 2035, exceeding the current combined usage of Germany and Japan.

The projection, released this week, marks a near doubling of the firm's earlier estimate from December. Grid-connected data centers are expected to drive an additional 15 billion cubic feet per day of demand through the power sector. Onsite natural gas plants at facilities operated by companies including Meta, Microsoft, Google, and Amazon will add another 2.9 billion to 3.4 billion cubic feet per day.

Data centers rank as the second-largest source of natural gas demand growth after LNG exports. The growth stems primarily from electricity needs for AI infrastructure, with natural gas supplying a large share of new power generation due to its reliability and abundance in the United States.

BloombergNEF noted that the forecast accounts for the fact that not every announced project will be completed. Even so, grid-connected data centers will outpace demand growth from all other sectors combined by a factor of five.

The United States leads global development of new gas-fired power capacity, with data centers accounting for a significant portion of planned projects, particularly in Texas. This expansion supports the rapid scaling of computing power required for advanced technologies.

Power-sector gas consumption overall is projected to rise substantially by 2035, underscoring natural gas's role in meeting reliable baseload electricity needs amid growing digital infrastructure demands.