Megawatt (MW)
Definition
A unit of electrical power equal to one million watts, used to measure data center electricity consumption. One megawatt can power approximately 750-1,000 average American homes. A typical hyperscale data center uses 30-50 MW continuously—equivalent to 30,000-50,000 homes. For context, all of Louisville Metro uses about 1,500-2,000 MW at peak demand.