Data centers can consume substantial electricity and water, create operational noise, and require land and grid capacity. Their real costs depend on where they are built, how they are cooled, what utilities must expand, and who pays for those changes. The latest U.S. electricity forecast illustrates the scale—and uncertainty—while water and noise impacts call for local evidence rather than a single global estimate.
How much electricity do data centers use?
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory’s United States Data Center Energy Usage Report: 2025 Update, published in June 2026, estimates U.S. data-center electricity use at 649 terawatt-hours (TWh) in 2030 in its reference case. Its compounded uncertainty bounds are 521–843 TWh. These are model-based projections, not measured future consumption. The report builds its estimates from projected equipment shipments, energy use per device, cooling performance, facility types and locations.
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An earlier LBNL report, summarized by the U.S. Department of Energy in December 2024, estimated that U.S. data centers used 176 TWh in 2023, about 4.4% of U.S. electricity, and projected 325–580 TWh in 2028. Those figures belong to the earlier report and its assumptions; they are not directly interchangeable with the newer report’s 2030 estimate.
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| Source and edition | Geography and period | Reported figure | How to read it |
|---|---|---|---|
| LBNL, 2025 Update, published June 2026 | United States, 2030 | 649 TWh reference case; 521–843 TWh compounded uncertainty bounds | Model-based forecast with a wide uncertainty range |
| LBNL report summarized by the U.S. Department of Energy, December 2024 | United States, 2023 | 176 TWh; approximately 4.4% of U.S. electricity | Estimate of electricity use in the stated year |
| LBNL report summarized by the U.S. Department of Energy, December 2024 | United States, 2028 | 325–580 TWh | Earlier report’s projection, not a measured outcome |
Annual energy use is only part of the grid question. A proposal also needs to disclose its expected peak demand, connection timing and load profile. Electricity consumption adds to the need for generation and transmission; whether a particular project triggers upgrades, delays or costs for other customers depends on the local grid and utility arrangements. A national forecast cannot establish the bill impact of an individual facility.
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How much water do data centers use?
There is no single water-use figure that applies to every data center. Cooling design, climate, facility operation and the source of water all matter. A facility’s water demand also has to be considered alongside local watershed conditions and the capacity of municipal systems, particularly during periods of scarcity.
In a speech to the Sydney Institute on 10 June 2026, Australian Minister for Industry, Science and Resources Andrew Charlton said Australian data centers’ estimated cooling-water consumption was 7 gigalitres in 2024–25. That is an attributed national estimate, not a universal intensity measure or a prediction for every Australian site. The same speech put data centers’ electricity use at around 2% of Australia’s National Electricity Market electricity. The water and electricity figures describe different impacts and should not be treated as directly comparable.
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For more comparable reporting, the European Union’s Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2024/1364 establishes indicators covering energy, water, renewable energy and reused heat. It specifies a methodology for measuring total water input and calls for potable water input to be measured separately. These categories help clarify what a figure includes; the regulation does not by itself establish that every facility makes its data publicly available at site level.
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Why can cooling change the overall impact?
Cooling is not an isolated choice between “using water” and “using electricity.” The cooling configuration affects a facility’s water needs and its energy use, and can shift some impacts from the site to the electricity system. The relevant comparison is therefore how a proposed system performs under local conditions—not whether one cooling label sounds efficient in the abstract.
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Ask operators and planners to state the cooling approach, projected total water input, potable-water input, water source and reporting period. For electricity, request annual consumption and peak demand on a consistent basis. Without those boundaries and definitions, two headline figures may describe different things and cannot support a fair comparison.
What are the community concerns about noise and siting?
Data centers can involve cooling equipment and backup generators, while clusters may concentrate industrial sound near homes or other sensitive uses. In his June 2026 speech, Minister Charlton characterized accumulated noise, visual impact and proposals near homes as legitimate community concerns. That is a policy statement about concerns, not a measured finding about sound at a particular site.
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There is no universal decibel level or safe distance established by the evidence cited here. A local assessment should examine operating equipment and generator testing, cumulative sound from nearby facilities, proposed hours and permit limits, and the locations of residences and sensitive uses. Planning documents should make clear how noise will be measured and addressed if monitoring shows permit conditions are not being met.
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Who pays for the grid and utility costs?
The project’s direct costs are not the same as the wider costs of connecting and serving it. Direct facility effects include electricity use, cooling-water demand, heat rejection, equipment noise and land occupation. System effects can include additional generation and transmission, utility-capacity needs and pressure on local water infrastructure. The key public question is which costs the operator funds and which, if any, are assigned to other utility customers or the wider community.
Project assessments should identify planned grid upgrades, who pays for them, and whether the stated demand is a firm commitment or a forecast. They should also show water requirements against local system capacity and explain how the project’s timeline fits with utility upgrades. A generic claim that a project will bring investment or support new energy supply is not a substitute for those project-specific details.
What benefits should be weighed against the costs?
Data centers can support digital services and bring investment, construction work and demand for energy projects. Minister Charlton’s June 2026 speech presented these as potential benefits alongside concerns about electricity, water, noise, siting and opportunity costs. Those benefits should be treated as claims to assess for the proposed location, not as guaranteed outcomes for every facility.
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For a fair local comparison, ask what jobs are expected and for how long, what public revenues or other benefits are projected, and whether those benefits accrue locally. Weigh them against the project’s use of scarce power, water, land and labor, as well as any utility costs that may fall beyond the site boundary. The evidence needed to answer those questions is specific to the project and its community.
Quick Recap
A practical checklist for assessing a proposal
- Electricity: Request projected annual use, peak demand, expected connection date, required generation or transmission work, and a clear account of who funds upgrades.
- Water: Ask for the cooling approach, total and potable water inputs, source, reporting period and seasonal demand; compare them with local watershed and municipal capacity.
- Noise and siting: Review cooling-equipment and backup-generator noise, cumulative effects from nearby facilities, distance to homes and sensitive uses, monitoring plans and enforceable permit conditions.
- Distribution of costs and benefits: Compare specific local jobs, revenues and other public benefits with pressure on utilities, land, housing and skilled labor.
- Transparency: Check that energy and water figures use consistent boundaries, categories, time periods and measurement methods before comparing projects.
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