IT load

IT load is the electrical power actually consumed by computing equipment — servers, storage, and network gear — measured in kW or MW, excluding cooling, power-conversion losses, and building systems. It is the denominator in PUE and the basis for most colocation billing and capacity planning: a '10 MW data center' normally means 10 MW of critical IT load, with total facility draw 20-60% higher depending on efficiency. Contracts distinguish contracted IT load (the capacity reserved) from drawn load (actual consumption); utilization commonly runs 60-80% of contracted capacity. Because grid connections, generators, and UPS plants are sized from IT load plus overhead, accurately forecasting it is central to data center economics — and underutilized contracted load is a major source of stranded power.