8 October 2026
Slough leads Britain's biggest rises in business electricity use, as data centres grow
Business electricity use in Slough rose 120% between 2012 and 2024, the largest rise of any council area using at least 200 GWh, while Great Britain as a whole used 16.1% less
The figures
- Slough: 812 GWh in 2012 to 1,786 GWh in 2024, +119.9%
- Hart: 168 GWh in 2012 to 282 GWh in 2024, +67.9%
- Dacorum: 325 GWh in 2012 to 487 GWh in 2024, +49.7%
- South Staffordshire: 217 GWh in 2012 to 282 GWh in 2024, +29.7%
- Rushcliffe: 185 GWh in 2012 to 230 GWh in 2024, +24.4%
- Newport: 651 GWh in 2012 to 779 GWh in 2024, +19.6%
- Hillingdon: 1,308 GWh in 2012 to 1,497 GWh in 2024, +14.4%
- Wiltshire: 1,163 GWh in 2012 to 1,314 GWh in 2024, +12.9%
- Bolsover: 195 GWh in 2012 to 217 GWh in 2024, +10.9%
- North East Derbyshire: 214 GWh in 2012 to 233 GWh in 2024, +8.7%
The council areas at the top of the list are home to some of Britain's largest clusters of data centres, which run around the clock and use electricity at industrial scale. Slough now averages 407,840 kWh per business meter, against 61,524 kWh across Great Britain.
Across Great Britain, businesses and other organisations used 151,744 GWh of electricity in 2024, 16.1% less than in 2012. Find any area on our business electricity use by council pages.
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Sources
- Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, subnational electricity consumption statistics, 2012 to 2024, non-domestic consumption, on current boundaries. Areas using at least 200 GWh in 2024.