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One free scan finds every outdated or missing driver and matches the right update for your exact hardware.Free scan · exact hardware matchData centers use electricity first to run servers, storage and networking, and then to power cooling and other support systems that keep that equipment operating continuously. Water can be used directly for cooling and indirectly when power plants consume water to generate the electricity a facility buys. The consequences for neighbors depend less on a generic “data center” label than on the local water basin, power system, cooling design, land-use decision and rules for assigning infrastructure costs.
A national forecast cannot tell residents what one proposed building will consume. To evaluate a local project, separate measured use from modeled demand, annual consumption from peak load, and on-site water from the full water footprint.
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Where a data center’s electricity goes
IT equipment is the core load
Servers perform computations, store data and handle communications. Networking equipment moves traffic among servers and out to users. These machines draw electricity whenever they are operating, so a facility serving cloud applications, online storage or artificial-intelligence workloads can create a large, steady demand rather than a short industrial peak.
Cooling and support systems add demand
Nearly all of the electricity entering a data center ultimately becomes heat that must be removed. Fans, pumps, chillers, cooling towers, control systems, lighting, security equipment and power-conditioning gear therefore consume electricity in addition to the servers themselves. Backup batteries and generators are part of resilience planning; they are not normally the primary energy source.
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The practical issue for a community is often timing. A large facility may operate around the clock, adding a continuous load to a grid whose generation or transmission capacity is already tight. The U.S. Department of Energy describes data centers as a factor in changing grid needs and discusses responses such as new generation, transmission, efficiency and flexible demand. Whether that load raises reliability concerns depends on the local system, not on a national average.
How water enters the picture
Direct, on-site water use
Some cooling designs evaporate water to carry heat away. Others rely more heavily on air, refrigerants or closed-loop systems. The choice affects both water and electricity, but there is no single facility-level trade-off that applies in every climate, building design or power system. A site using less water on its property may require more electricity for mechanical cooling; a water-intensive design may reduce some electrical demand while increasing withdrawals or consumption.
Water accounting must state what is being measured. “Withdrawal” is the amount taken from a source; “consumption” is the portion not returned in the same usable condition, often because it evaporates. A figure may cover potable water, reclaimed water or another supply, and it may represent an annual average while concealing high summer use. Size, computing density and cooling system all affect the result.
Indirect water tied to electricity
Power generation can consume water for steam cycles, cooling and other processes. Consequently, a data center’s water footprint is not captured by its utility meter alone. The local electricity mix matters: the indirect component will differ where marginal power comes from water-intensive thermal generation, nuclear generation, hydropower or lower-water sources. UNCTAD’s water-energy analysis emphasizes that these impacts can be concentrated in particular communities even when the digital service is used elsewhere.
Why a single “gallons per data center” figure misleads
- Direct site use and indirect power-generation use answer different questions.
- Withdrawals and consumption are not interchangeable.
- Annual averages can hide seasonal or hourly peaks.
- Potable, reclaimed and other sources have different implications for public health and competing users.
- A facility’s cooling design, size and computing density can change its profile substantially.
What the major numbers do—and do not—tell you
The most prominent U.S. number is a forecast, not a meter reading. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory’s June 2026 update models national data-center electricity demand for 2030 using expected equipment shipments and design assumptions.
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| Measure | Value | How to interpret it |
|---|---|---|
| U.S. data-center electricity in 2030, reference case | 649 TWh | Bottom-up model estimate from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory; projected, not observed consumption at a particular site. |
| Share of total U.S. electricity in 2030, reference case | 11.8% | National forecast; it does not predict the share in a state, utility territory or host town. |
| Scenario range for the 2030 share | 9.5%–15.3% | Alternative modeled outcomes reflecting different assumptions. |
| Compounded uncertainty range for 2030 use | 521–843 TWh | Model and input uncertainty, not a confidence interval for one proposed facility. |
These figures are useful for planning how much generation and transmission the country might need. They cannot establish a project’s load without the developer’s electrical design, utility studies and connection agreement. A proposed campus may be smaller or larger than the assumptions in the national model, may come online in phases, or may never reach its announced capacity.
France offers a different kind of evidence. The Service des données et études statistiques (SDES) estimated that 471 identified metropolitan data centers above a 1 GWh threshold used 4.3 TWh in 2024. Including smaller or harder-to-identify facilities, SDES estimated total consumption at 4.3–6 TWh. This is an official France-specific estimate for a defined year and threshold; it is not a global rate and cannot be transferred directly to a U.S. site.
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Why local effects vary so sharply
The water basin and its rules
A facility drawing from a plentiful system may have a different effect from one in a basin with seasonal shortages, competing agricultural demand or limited treatment capacity. The relevant questions are the source, permitted withdrawal, consumptive use, seasonal profile and contingency plan—not simply whether a company says it will use “efficient” cooling.
Governance also matters. Water may be supplied by a municipal utility, a private provider or an on-site source, each with different disclosure and allocation rules. A community can have abundant water statewide while a particular locality faces a tight well field or constrained treatment plant. The Virginia Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission (JLARC) found that Virginia is relatively water-rich overall, but some localities face tighter limits and the state has less oversight of how available water should be shared among competing local uses.
The power system and marginal capacity
Electricity costs and impacts depend on what the next megawatt requires. If existing generation and transmission have spare capacity, a connection may need limited new infrastructure. If demand is growing faster than supply, utilities may need generation, substations or transmission lines. Those investments can affect rates, land use and emissions for customers beyond the host municipality.
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Ask whether the load is committed under a signed interconnection agreement or merely a developer projection. A utility can plan for a large campus that is delayed, downsized or canceled, leaving customers exposed to costs that were justified by a forecast rather than actual demand.
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Land-use decisions determine who experiences construction traffic, building mass, lighting, generator testing and continuous equipment noise. JLARC reported that about one-third of Virginia data centers were located near residential areas. That Virginia finding does not establish a national share, but it illustrates why zoning setbacks and operating conditions matter.
Virginia as a grounded case study
Virginia’s JLARC review is useful because it examines economic, energy, water and neighborhood effects in one state; it is not a universal verdict.
Economic benefits are real but uneven
Industry estimates cited by JLARC attribute $9.1 billion in annual GDP contribution and 74,000 jobs to Virginia’s data-center sector. The report notes that most of the economic benefit comes from construction rather than ongoing operations. A town therefore needs to distinguish a temporary building boom from the number and quality of permanent jobs, local procurement and tax revenue that remain after commissioning.
Who pays for the grid?
JLARC found that Virginia’s current rates appropriately allocate current costs to data-center customers. It also warned that growing demand could require substantial generation and transmission investment, and that energy prices may rise for customers generally. Its concise conclusion is: “Data centers are currently paying their full cost of service, but growing energy demand is likely to increase other customers’ costs.” The statement is specific to Virginia’s analysis and its future-demand qualification.
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Water oversight and sustainability
Most Virginia facilities receive water through local utilities. JLARC concluded that current use was sustainable in the state’s context but growing and capable of better management: “Data center water use is currently sustainable, but use is growing and could be better managed.” That does not mean every basin is secure, nor that every facility competes directly with household drinking water. Local withdrawal permits, utility capacity and seasonal conditions determine the actual risk.
Noise and backup generators
Residents have reported persistent low-frequency noise from cooling equipment. JLARC noted that such noise can affect well-being even when it is not loud enough to damage hearing or typically violate a noise ordinance. Measurement standards, nighttime limits, equipment placement and complaint procedures therefore matter.
Backup diesel generators are a separate air-pollution issue. In the Virginia setting JLARC studied, generator use was minimal and existing permits limited operation. Other jurisdictions may have different permit conditions, so residents should read the actual air permit rather than infer impacts from the word “backup.”
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Digital services are not automatically worse than physical alternatives
The location of infrastructure still matters even when a digital service reduces total resource use. A 2025 U.K. government study compared video streaming with Blu-ray, e-book reading with printed books, and AI translation with human translation. In those cases, the digital option either matched or substantially undercut the physical alternative’s electricity use. A 2026 follow-up examined ten additional cases and reported different outcomes by service.
These studies used a full-chain comparison: production, distribution, use and disposal rather than only the electricity consumed inside a data center. They correct the claim that every form of digitalization necessarily increases total energy use. They do not erase local effects from a new building, transmission line or water system. A fair comparison asks what physical activity the service replaces and where each part of the chain occurs.
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A practical checklist for evaluating a proposed facility
Residents, planning boards and journalists can request the following records and answers before accepting a headline number:
- Electrical load: What is the expected annual electricity consumption and the maximum coincident peak load? Which phases are contractually committed, and which are speculative?
- Grid work: Which generation, substation and transmission upgrades are required? Who pays upfront, and which costs can enter utility rates if the project is delayed or canceled?
- Water source: Will the facility use potable, reclaimed, surface or groundwater? What are permitted withdrawal and consumptive-use amounts by month?
- Cooling design: Is the system evaporative, air-cooled, closed-loop or hybrid? What operating conditions trigger the highest water and electricity use?
- Measurement boundary: Do published figures distinguish withdrawal from consumption and direct site use from water associated with electricity generation?
- Land use and noise: What setbacks, sound limits, monitoring points, nighttime rules and complaint remedies apply? Are residential areas within the study boundary?
- Public finances: What tax revenue, construction work, permanent employment and added public-service costs are expected locally? Which estimates are one-time and which recur annually?
- Oversight: Which utility filings, water-provider plans, withdrawal records, air permits, zoning documents and public-hearing minutes support the claims?
Compare alternatives using the same boundaries: current measured use versus future modeled demand; annual consumption versus peak capacity; direct versus indirect water; and benefits received locally versus costs shared across a wider rate base.
What modeled water projections mean
Ceres’ 2025 report projects steep increases in water use associated with data-center cooling and electricity consumption in the regional cases it studies. Those figures are model outputs from an advocacy nonprofit, tied to the geographies and assumptions in that report. They are useful for identifying where water stress could become a planning constraint, but they are not a universal per-facility rate or a measurement of every project.
The same discipline applies to any forecast: identify the geography, baseline year, scenario assumptions, climate conditions, cooling technology and whether the result is withdrawal or consumption. A projected regional increase cannot be presented as proof that one nearby building will use a specified volume.
Bottom line for nearby communities
Data centers convert electricity into computing and heat, requiring additional power and, in some designs, substantial direct water. Electricity generation adds an indirect water footprint. The national LBNL outlook signals a potentially large U.S. load by 2030, while France’s SDES estimate shows what an official, geographically bounded measurement looks like. Neither answers a site-specific question.
For a proposed project, the decisive evidence is local: basin conditions, cooling and water records, utility interconnection studies, peak and annual load commitments, zoning and noise rules, and a transparent account of who receives tax and construction benefits and who pays for long-lived infrastructure. That is how a community can distinguish a manageable project from one whose costs and risks have been shifted to neighbors.
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