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Data centers can use substantial amounts of electricity, and some also use water on site for cooling. Their effects on nearby residents depend on the facility’s design and operating needs as well as local water systems, wastewater capacity, power generation, transmission and utility planning. National estimates describe a growing industry; they cannot by themselves predict a town’s water availability, utility bills or grid reliability.
How much electricity do data centers use?
Servers and other information-technology equipment consume electricity, and cooling and other supporting systems need power too. A facility’s total load depends on the equipment it houses, how intensively it is used, its efficiency, cooling design and operating practices. Data centers often need firm power for continuous operation, and demand varies by region, according to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).
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National figures show the scale of demand, but they are estimates and projections rather than measurements of every facility or predictions for a particular utility area.
| Figure | What it represents |
|---|---|
| 176 TWh in 2023 | Estimated U.S. data-center electricity use, reported by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) in 2024 and summarized by DOE. |
| 325 to 580 TWh in 2028 | Range projected in LBNL’s 2024 report for U.S. data-center electricity use. This was a forecast, not a reported 2028 outcome. |
| 11.8% of total U.S. electricity by 2030 | Central modeled estimate in LBNL’s 2025 update, published in 2026. |
| 9.5% to 15.3% of total U.S. electricity by 2030 | Scenario range in LBNL’s 2025 update, published in 2026; it expresses uncertainty in the projection, not a guaranteed outcome. |
The figures come from different LBNL analyses and years, so they should not be read as a single measured trend line. The 2030 range is particularly important: the central estimate is one modeled outcome among scenarios, not a settled share.
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Where data-center water use comes from
Water used at the facility
Some data centers use water on site to remove heat, including through cooling towers. In a cooling tower, some water evaporates as heat is rejected, and some is drained as blowdown to control dissolved minerals in the recirculating water. DOE’s Federal Energy Management Program describes evaporation as the primary source of cooling-tower water consumption and blowdown as another water loss from the system.
Cooling design and operating conditions affect how much water and electricity a facility uses. Water use also depends on factors such as climate and operational practices, so a figure from one facility cannot automatically be applied to another.
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Water used to generate electricity
A data center can also be associated with water use away from its site: power plants may consume water to generate the electricity the facility uses. The amount depends on the electricity-generation technologies serving the load and their location. This indirect water use is separate from the water delivered to the facility for cooling.
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Water withdrawal is water taken from a source. Water consumption is water not returned to the immediate system, including water lost through evaporation. The two measures are not interchangeable: a facility may withdraw water and return some of it, while evaporated water is consumed.
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Water usage effectiveness (WUE) is a site-based measure: annual site water use divided by annual IT-equipment energy use. It can help describe direct facility water use relative to computing equipment energy, but it does not capture the water consumed off site to generate electricity.
Why water use per computing task can vary so widely
A 2025 LBNL-authored review found workload-level water-use variation exceeding 10,000-fold in its analysis. That finding is not a universal range for individual data centers. It reflects how strongly results can depend on what is counted and on the conditions behind a workload estimate.
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The review identifies interacting factors that can change workload-level water use:
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- The cooling system, infrastructure efficiency and climate zone.
- The water-consumption factors of the electricity grid supplying the workload.
- The server refresh cycle.
For that reason, a water-per-task figure is meaningful only with its system boundary and assumptions stated. It should not be treated as a direct measure of a whole facility’s annual water demand.
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How a data center could affect nearby residents
Potential effects depend on the specific project and the local systems it connects to. The relevant pathways include:
- Water supply: facility withdrawals may matter to a local water source or system, especially in places where supply is constrained or drought planning is important.
- Wastewater: cooling-tower blowdown may need to be handled by a wastewater system, subject to the facility’s design and local arrangements.
- Electricity infrastructure: a large, continuous load may require utility planning for generation, transmission or other grid integration.
- Costs and reliability: whether a project changes household bills or affects local reliability depends on utility planning, cost allocation, available capacity and other project-specific facts.
These are issues to evaluate, not proof that a particular facility will cause water shortages, raise household bills or reduce reliability. DOE describes regional variation in data-center demand and the need to consider grid integration and reliability. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) identifies water supply, wastewater treatment and energy-use reporting as siting and planning considerations, while noting gaps in data-center energy-use reporting. Neither national analysis nor general guidance establishes what residents near an unnamed facility will experience.
What to ask about a proposed facility
For a specific project, seek the facility’s plans and compare them with local water, wastewater and utility records. Useful questions include:
- What water withdrawals and water consumption does the facility expect, and from which sources?
- What drought assumptions does its planning use, and how does it expect to operate during water restrictions?
- What cooling design will it use, and how will it handle blowdown and wastewater?
- What electricity load and operating profile does it expect, including its need for continuous service?
- What utility interconnection work or grid upgrades are planned?
- Do utility rate or cost-allocation filings explain who would pay for upgrades or additional service?
Then compare the answers with local water-supply and drought plans, wastewater-system capacity, utility filings and grid reliability plans. Those project and local records—not a national average—are needed to assess likely effects in a particular community.
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