Electricity use of AI coding agents

2 months ago

Electricity and water usage of AI chatbots in 2025 was better estimated, with individual usage being a rounding error compared to other daily activities.
Median queries consume around 0.3 Wh, but coding agents like Claude Code use orders of magnitude more energy due to longer sessions and tool calls.
A typical Claude Code session consumes ~41 Wh, and daily usage can reach ~1,300 Wh, comparable to running a dishwasher or skipping a short drive.
Energy estimates are based on napkin math and assumptions due to lack of comprehensive data from frontier labs.
The environmental impact depends on the energy source; renewables make the impact less concerning than fossil fuels.
Advocating for green energy transition is more effective than reducing individual LLM usage for climate impact.
The author donates to organizations promoting green energy in tech, despite not reducing personal usage of coding agents.

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