Energy usage in data centres has shifted from a “facilities problem” to a board-level issue. Power is now a growth constraint, a cost centre, a carbon signal and increasingly a competitive differentiator.
Whether you’re operating a single comms room, a colocation footprint or multiple sites, the winners over the next few years will be the ones who can measure energy accurately and turn those measurements into operational decisions.
What "Energy Usage in Data Centres" Actually Includes
When people talk about energy usage in data centres, they often mean one number: total electricity consumed. In practice, it’s a stack of loads that behave very differently.
The IT load includes servers, storage and network equipment. This is the “useful work” that justifies the facility’s existence. Cooling systems consume substantial power through CRAC and CRAH units, chillers, pumps, cooling towers, in-row and rear-door cooling equipment. Electrical infrastructure creates losses through UPS systems, PDUs, transformers and switchgear. Air movement requires fans, whilst containment leakage and pressurisation also contribute.
Even lighting, security and BMS systems, whilst small individually, become meaningful at scale. The fastest way to improve performance is to separate these loads so you can see what’s happening in real time, not just at the monthly bill level.
Why Energy Demand Is Rising (and Why AI Changes the Game)
There are three big reasons energy usage in data centres keeps trending upward.
- First, higher compute intensity per square metre has become the norm. Virtualisation and consolidation helped for years but modern workloads are simply more power-hungry per unit of rack space than older enterprise baselines. Real-time analytics, video processing, edge services, encryption and observability all demand more power.
- Second, more cooling and power delivery complexity follows naturally. As rack densities increase, the supporting infrastructure must scale. Cooling becomes more targeted. Airflow management becomes less forgiving. Electrical distribution losses become more visible.
- Third, AI and accelerated computing have changed the game entirely. AI doesn’t just add load; it changes the shape of the load. GPU-heavy environments often run at high sustained utilisation, which can compress the margin for error in cooling, redundancy and capacity planning. This is why AI discussions quickly move from “what does it cost?” to “can the site physically supply and remove the heat?”
The takeaway: energy usage in data centres is no longer a steady curve. It’s a step-change risk if you’re not instrumented properly.
The Metrics That Matter: Beyond "Total kWh"
If you want to manage energy usage in data centres, you need a few key metrics that connect engineering reality to business decisions.
Energy consumption, measured in kWh, is what you pay for over time. Demand, measured in kW, represents your instantaneous load and drives capacity limits and peak charges. Power factor, harmonics and unbalance are silent efficiency killers and reliability risks that often go unnoticed. PUE (Power Usage Effectiveness) measures total facility energy divided by IT energy.
It’s great for trending but not a silver bullet. PUE can improve because IT rises, not because waste falls. WUE (Water Usage Effectiveness), if relevant, measures the litres of water consumed per kilowatt-hour of IT equipment energy. This metric is increasingly important for cooling strategies and reporting.
The “money move” is tying these metrics to where they occur: site, building, UPS, PDU, row, rack and sometimes outlet or circuit.
How to Measure Energy Usage in Data Centres Properly
A common trap is trying to improve efficiency with only one or two measurement points. To make changes confidently, measurement needs to be layered.
Utility or main incomer metering gives you whole-of-site consumption and demand. This is useful for billing validation and top-level KPI reporting. Distribution-level submetering of UPS, switchboards, PDUs and mechanical plant reveals where energy is actually going: IT versus cooling versus electrical losses and which blocks are driving peaks.
Rack, row or circuit-level metering unlocks chargeback and showback capabilities (if you do it), capacity planning, hotspot detection and workload placement decisions. Power quality monitoring watches for problems that many facilities miss.
Data centres are packed with non-linear loads. If you’re not watching harmonics, power factor and disturbances, you can end up paying more, stressing equipment or chasing “mystery” trips and overheating.
In short: you can’t manage what you can’t see, and you can’t justify investment without proving what changed.
Practical Ways to Reduce Energy Usage (Without Reducing Resilience)
Here are moves that reliably improve performance, along with what to measure to prove they worked.
Airflow and Containment Basics That Still Win
Sealing bypass airflow, tightening blanking panels and enforcing hot/cold aisle discipline remain effective. Measure return air temperatures, fan power and cooling kW versus IT kW to track improvements.
Raise Supply Temperatures Safely
Many environments are overcooled out of caution. Measure rack inlet temperatures, alarm trends and cooling energy per kW of IT to verify safe operation at higher temperatures.
Tune Control Loops
Poorly tuned PID loops and competing controls can waste energy. Measure compressor cycling, valve positions, fan speeds and kW stability to identify opportunities.
Reduce Electrical Losses
UPS loading and operating mode matter significantly. Measure UPS input versus output, efficiency curves and harmonic distortion to optimise performance.
Plan Capacity With Real Data
Nameplate ratings and spreadsheets are conservative. Measure peak demand by block, diversity factors and headroom by PDU and rack to understand true capacity.
If AI is in your future, treat this as non-negotiable: instrument now, then scale.
SATEC: The Metering Solution for Data Centres
If your goal is to control energy usage in data centres, the foundation is accurate, high-resolution, trustworthy measurement at the points that matter.
SATEC’s energy metering and monitoring portfolio is built for environments where uptime, auditability and electrical performance aren’t optional. Revenue-grade and compliant metering options, including NMI-approved models and multi-circuit electricity metering, where required, are ideal when accuracy and compliance matter for internal accounting, billing, tenancy models or regulated scenarios.
Submetering for distribution visibility allows you to monitor loads across incomers, switchboards, UPS outputs, PDUs, mechanical plant and critical branches. You can separate IT load from “everything else.” Power quality monitoring protects reliability by tracking power factor, harmonics, disturbances and other electrical health signals that can drive inefficiency, overheating, nuisance alarms or equipment stress.
Operational intelligence with SATEC’s cloud-based software, Expertpower, turns raw meter data into dashboards, trends, alarms and reports. Engineering teams can act quickly and leadership can see clear outcomes.
The result isn’t just “more data.” It’s clarity: where energy is being used, what is driving peaks, what changed after an upgrade and where you’ll hit the next constraint. If you’re serious about reducing energy usage in data centres whilst keeping resilience high, start by metering the right layers and make sure the data is accurate enough to trust.
Wrap-Up: Measure First, Optimise Second
Energy usage in data centres is now shaped by denser compute, higher cooling demands and AI-driven load profiles that don’t behave like yesterday’s infrastructure.
The organisations that win won’t be the ones with the fanciest slogans. They’ll be the ones with the best visibility, the clearest KPIs and the discipline to prove improvements. Start with measurement you trust. Then optimise what the data tells you. When you need to scale, you’ll be doing it with eyes open.
To discuss your energy management needs, contact our team of experts today.
FAQs - Energy Usage in Data Centres
What does “energy usage in data centres” include?
It includes the IT load (servers, storage, networking) plus supporting loads like cooling, UPS/transformer losses, fans, lighting and security.
Why is energy usage in data centres rising so quickly?
Rack power densities are increasing and cooling/power delivery must scale with them. AI and GPU workloads accelerate this because they often run at high, sustained utilisation.
What’s the best way to measure energy usage in data centres?
Use layered metering: utility incomer metering for total site use, distribution submetering (UPS/PDUs/mechanical plant) for allocation and rack/circuit metering for pinpoint insights.
How can SATEC help reduce energy usage in data centres?
SATEC provides accurate metering (including NMI-approved options where required), power quality monitoring, and Expertpower software to turn measurements into actionable visibility and reporting.
