Data centers use electricity continuously to run servers and other information-technology equipment. Cooling and supporting systems add to the facility’s electrical demand. Some cooling designs also consume water on site, while electricity generation can use water elsewhere. National estimates show that data centers are a significant and growing U.S. electricity load, but they cannot tell residents what one proposed facility will demand or how it will affect local bills, reliability, or water supplies.
How a data center uses electricity
A data center is a building or group of buildings housing computing equipment and the infrastructure needed to operate it. Servers and related IT equipment run whenever the services they support are in use. The facility also needs power for cooling and other supporting systems. As a result, the electricity demand of the whole facility is not just the electricity used by its servers.
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That demand matters to utilities because a data center can represent a large, continuous load in one place. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) notes that data-center demand is growing rapidly, varies by region, and can affect regional grids. Large loads that need firm, continuous power can also constrain where facilities can locate. Those broad observations describe why planners consider data centers in grid planning; they do not establish that a specific project will cause an outage or require a particular upgrade.
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Two recent estimates provide context, but they describe different report vintages and time periods. The 2023 figure is a historical estimate; projections for later years are modeled scenarios, not measurements of current consumption.
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| Source and report | Period covered | U.S. electricity share | How to read it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), 2024 report, as summarized by DOE | 2023 estimate | About 4.4% | Historical national estimate, not a local share. |
| LBNL, 2024 report, as summarized by DOE | 2028 projection | 6.7%–12% | Forecast range in that report, not a measured result. |
| LBNL, United States Data Center Energy Usage Report: 2025 Update, listed by DOE’s Office of Scientific and Technical Information as published June 18, 2026 | 2030 projection | 11.8% central estimate; 9.5%–15.3% scenario range | Projection with a range reflecting uncertainty; not a current-use figure. |
The 2024 report’s 2028 projection and the 2025 update’s 2030 projection are not competing measurements: they come from different report vintages and forecast horizons. Neither percentage says what share of a particular utility’s electricity a nearby facility would use. A local answer requires the facility’s expected load and information about the grid serving it.
Facility load is not the same as national share
For a proposed site, ask for both annual electricity use and peak electrical load. Annual use describes demand across a year; peak load helps show the maximum demand the site expects to place on the system. Neither number on its own explains how the utility will serve the project. Utility interconnection plans and any planned grid upgrades are needed to understand the infrastructure question.
LBNL’s data-center work models IT equipment and cooling systems, and its overview describes location-specific estimates of water demand that account for cooling systems and power supply. That level of detail underscores why a national average cannot stand in for a project-level estimate: the facility’s design and location matter.
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How data centers use water
There are two distinct water questions. The first is how much water a facility uses at its site, particularly for cooling. The second is how much water may be used by power plants generating the facility’s electricity. The latter can occur far from the data center. Adding these together without distinguishing location and source can obscure what is happening in the community where the building stands.
Direct water use: cooling at the facility
Some data centers use cooling towers that reject heat through evaporation. Water evaporating from the tower must be replenished, and some water is drained as blowdown to manage dissolved minerals. The DOE Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP) describes this cooling process and notes that operating practices can affect makeup-water requirements and blowdown.
Not every data center uses the same cooling design. Residents should not assume that every facility has an evaporative cooling tower, or that every tower consumes the same amount of water. A project-specific estimate should identify the cooling design and report water demand in absolute terms, including both annual and peak needs.
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FEMP defines water usage effectiveness (WUE) as annual site water use divided by annual IT-equipment energy use, measured in liters per kilowatt-hour. WUE can help compare site water performance, but it is an intensity metric: it does not by itself show total water demand. It also excludes the water effects of electricity generation. Ask for the facility’s absolute annual and peak water demand as well as any WUE figure, and confirm what the site’s WUE calculation includes.
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FEMP gives a specific cooling-tower example: increasing cycles of concentration from three to six reduces makeup-water requirements by 20% and blowdown by 50%. That figure applies to the described operating change; it is not a universal savings estimate for all data centers or cooling systems.
Indirect water use: electricity generation
Power generation may use water for steam or cooling. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) explains that electricity’s environmental effects depend on how and where it is generated and delivered. As the EPA puts it, “The size of these impacts will depend on how and where the electricity is generated and delivered.” Electricity used at a data center may be generated in another city or state, so power-related water use is not necessarily local to the facility.
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For a useful comparison, keep on-site water and electricity-generation water separate. A facility’s direct water demand is relevant to the water system serving the site. The indirect water associated with its power supply depends on the generation mix and where electricity is produced and delivered. A single site-water intensity number cannot answer both questions.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How much water does a data center use?
There is no single amount that applies to every data center. The evidence here establishes that direct water use depends on cooling design and that indirect water use depends on electricity generation and location. It does not establish one universal gallons-per-day figure or a water demand for any unnamed facility.
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1Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches2Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems3Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteFor a specific proposal, request the projected annual and peak water demand, the source of that water, and the cooling system description. Ask separately how wastewater and cooling-tower blowdown will be handled. If a project reports WUE, ask for the absolute water figures too; an intensity ratio cannot tell a resident how much water the site will draw in a year or at peak.
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How much electricity does a data center use?
The national figures offer scale, not a facility-by-facility answer: LBNL estimated about 4.4% of U.S. electricity use in 2023, while its 2025 update projects a central estimate of 11.8% by 2030, with scenarios from 9.5% to 15.3%. For an individual site, obtain its expected annual use and peak load from the project or utility. Those two figures answer different questions, and the national percentages cannot substitute for either.
Will a data center raise my electric bill?
A national estimate cannot determine whether a particular project will change residents’ bills. That depends on local utility arrangements and how project-related costs are allocated. The material available for this topic does not establish a bill outcome for any named project or jurisdiction.
Residents can ask the utility or project for applicable rates and cost-allocation documents, and for the proposed interconnection and any grid upgrades. These records help clarify what infrastructure is planned and how costs are assigned. Without the relevant local documents, a claim that a specific data center will raise—or will not raise—household bills is not established.
Do data centers use drinking water?
The answer depends on the facility’s water source and cooling design. Some data centers use cooling towers that consume water through evaporation, but the information here does not establish that every site uses drinking water or that a particular proposed facility would. Ask the project to identify its planned water source and explain how that source relates to the local water system.
What should residents ask about a proposed data center?
Use the questions below to separate the facility’s resource demand from the utility and infrastructure decisions around it. Seek project-specific records rather than treating a national percentage or a general description of cooling as a local impact assessment.
Electricity and grid planning
- What are the facility’s expected annual electricity use and peak electrical load?
- What utility interconnection is planned, and what grid upgrades are being considered?
- Which rate and cost-allocation documents apply to the project, and how do they describe responsibility for associated costs?
- What backup-power arrangements are planned?
Water, cooling, and wastewater
- What are the expected annual and peak water demands?
- Where will the water come from?
- What cooling design will the facility use, and does it include evaporative cooling towers?
- How will wastewater and any cooling-tower blowdown be managed?
- If WUE is reported, what absolute annual and peak water figures accompany it?
Permits and public records
- Which permits and public filings describe the proposed facility, utility service, water demand, and wastewater handling?
- Do those records provide enough detail to distinguish routine annual demand from peak needs?
- Do the utility or project documents address local capacity and the planned allocation of infrastructure costs?
Local basin stress, utility capacity, and cost allocation require project-specific records. National load estimates show that data-center demand is significant and changing, but they do not establish whether a particular project will strain a water system, affect reliability, or change household bills. For a comparison between proposals or cooling designs, compare electricity and water together, record peak demand as well as annual totals, and keep on-site water distinct from water associated with power generation.
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