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A data center can become one of the largest electricity loads on a local grid, but its water demand and land footprint depend on the facility’s design, climate, power sources, and site plan. National forecasts show rapid growth, yet they cannot predict what one proposed project will draw from your utility or watershed.
To understand a facility near you, separate four questions: how much electricity it needs and how it connects to the grid; how its cooling system uses, withdraws, consumes, or reuses water; how much land the campus and supporting infrastructure occupy; and what the local utility, planning agency, and environmental documents actually require.
What the national numbers mean—and what they do not
Data-center electricity use is rising quickly. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory’s United States Data Center Energy Usage Report: 2025 Update, published in June 2026, estimates that data centers could use 11.8% of all U.S. electricity in 2030 in its reference case. The same report gives a scenario range of 9.5% to 15.3%.
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Those percentages are modeled national estimates, not a guaranteed outcome and not a forecast for any particular county. The range reflects uncertainty about computing demand, server deployment, efficiency, electricity prices, and the pace at which projects are built. A project’s local importance depends on its contracted load, operating schedule, connection voltage, and the capacity available on the serving grid.
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A U.S. Department of Energy-hosted conclusion for the same report says national data-center electricity use increased 14% between 2023 and 2024. It attributes the increase to deployment of accelerated servers and says efficiency improvements have not offset the growth in computing demand. A more efficient server can still increase total electricity use when many more servers are installed.
| National figure | What it measures | How to use it locally |
|---|---|---|
| 11.8% of total U.S. electricity in 2030 | Berkeley Lab reference-case model, published June 2026 | Shows the possible scale of national growth; it does not predict a specific facility’s load |
| 9.5%–15.3% in 2030 | Berkeley Lab scenario range | Shows uncertainty around the reference case |
| 14% increase from 2023 to 2024 | DOE-hosted report conclusion | Describes recent national growth, not a local rate or bill change |
| Nearly 800 billion liters in 2023 | Modeled indirect water footprint of U.S. data centers | Provides national context; it is not water drawn from one community |
How much electricity does a data center use?
There is no single facility-size number that answers this question. A campus may have current operating demand, a contracted or maximum capacity, and additional phases that are planned but not yet energized. Ask which figure a utility filing or planning document reports.
Why the load is unusually demanding
Data centers generally operate continuously rather than only during daytime peaks. The Department of Energy notes that they often require firm power at all times. It also notes that latency requirements can constrain where facilities are built, limiting the ability to place every new load in a region with abundant spare generation.
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What residents should check
- The project’s expected demand in megawatts and whether the number is present load, initial phase, ultimate build-out, or a contractual maximum.
- The proposed substation, transmission connection, and any new rights-of-way shown in site or utility documents.
- Grid-reliability studies, interconnection filings, and public utility commission proceedings.
- Whether the utility has described new generation, storage, transmission, or demand-management measures to serve the load.
- Which party pays for upgrades and how the utility’s rate structure treats a large new customer.
A larger regional load does not automatically mean a particular household’s bill will rise. That outcome depends on the utility’s rates, cost-allocation rules, contracts, and the actual infrastructure required. Do not infer a bill impact without local evidence.
How data centers use water
Water use has two distinct parts. Direct water is used at the facility, commonly for cooling and related systems. Indirect water is consumed at power plants that generate the electricity serving the data center. Indirect consumption can occur far from the host community and depends on the regional generation mix.
Berkeley Lab’s 2024 United States Data Center Energy Usage Report estimated a nearly 800-billion-liter indirect water footprint for U.S. data centers in 2023. That is a modeled national total based on regional electricity-grid mixes. It is not a measurement of water withdrawn from a single city’s pipes, river, or aquifer.
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Withdrawal is not consumption
A facility’s withdrawal is the water it takes from a source during a reporting period. Consumption is the portion not promptly returned to the same immediate water cycle, often because it evaporates. A withdrawal figure alone cannot tell you how much water is consumed, how much is discharged, or where return flows go. Request both figures, along with the source and the reporting period.
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Why cooling design changes the answer
Cooling systems can use water in different ways, and their demand can change with outdoor temperature, workload, server efficiency, utilization, and operating controls. A 2025 review by Lei, Lu, Shehabi, and Masanet, summarized by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, found that workload-level water use varied by more than 10,000-fold. The review identified server efficiency and utilization, cooling design, infrastructure efficiency, climate zone, and the water intensity of the electricity grid as important determinants.
That variation is why a national multiplier is a poor way to estimate a proposed facility. Ask the operator or permitting agency for facility-specific direct withdrawal, direct consumption, discharge, peak-season demand, and assumptions about future expansion.
Do data centers use local drinking water?
They can, but the answer is project-specific. A facility may use potable municipal water, reclaimed or recycled water, groundwater, surface water, or a combination. The source, treatment requirements, allocation, and drought restrictions should appear in water-service agreements, permits, environmental reviews, or utility records.
What the Quincy, Washington, example shows
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Water Reuse Case Study: Quincy, Washington illustrates why local figures matter. Quincy typically uses about 2.1 billion gallons of groundwater per year. Until recently, data centers accounted for 10% of pumped groundwater; food processors accounted for 57%, and residents plus public or commercial services accounted for 33%.
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EPA also reports that Microsoft has operated a 270-acre data-center campus in Quincy since 2007. The city’s Quincy Water Reuse Utility, operational since 2021, reuses cooling water and offsets 138 million gallons per year, reducing reliance on potable groundwater. These are Quincy-specific figures, not national averages or a template for every campus.
When reviewing a local proposal, look for the named water source, a permitted withdrawal volume, monthly or seasonal limits, treatment and discharge conditions, and whether reuse is operating or merely proposed. A statement that a project will use recycled water should identify the system, capacity, start date, and amount expected to replace potable or groundwater use.
How much land does a data center take up?
There is no established national typical acreage in the available evidence. Land requirements vary with building count, setbacks, stormwater areas, substations, generators, fuel storage, cooling equipment, parking, security zones, and transmission or water infrastructure outside the main parcel.
EPA’s Quincy case study gives one documented example: a 270-acre Microsoft data-center campus operating since 2007. That figure demonstrates that a campus can cover hundreds of acres, but it does not define a standard footprint or predict the size of another project.
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Read the full site plan, not just the building outline
Ask the planning department for the parcel map and approved site plan. Check the acreage of each phase and identify easements, access roads, substations, overhead or underground lines, backup-generation compounds, cooling plants, water tanks, and stormwater facilities. Some associated infrastructure may sit on separate parcels or in utility rights-of-way.
Zoning approvals can also reveal height limits, setbacks, noise conditions, lighting rules, tree removal, construction phasing, and operating restrictions. An environmental review may address wetlands, habitat, traffic, air emissions from backup generators, water resources, or cumulative development. Treat each item as a document-based question rather than assuming that every data center produces the same effect.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What nearby residents can expect to investigate
The practical effects of a data center depend on its design and approvals. Residents should distinguish what is documented from what is merely possible.
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|---|---|---|
| How large is the electrical load? | Utility interconnection filing, service agreement, reliability study, and phasing plan | Separates current demand from future capacity and identifies grid upgrades |
| Where does power come from? | Utility generation mix, transmission plan, and project service description | Helps assess regional generation and indirect water effects |
| How is the facility cooled? | Cooling-system description, water balance, equipment schedule, and operating assumptions | Shows how climate and workload affect direct water demand |
| Does it use drinking water? | Water-service agreement, source permit, reuse-utility contract, and drought provisions | Identifies potable, groundwater, surface-water, or reclaimed sources |
| How much water is consumed? | Withdrawal, consumption, discharge, and seasonal reporting requirements | Prevents a withdrawal number from being mistaken for consumption |
| How much land and infrastructure are involved? | Parcel map, site plan, easements, substation and transmission drawings | Captures the campus and off-site infrastructure footprint |
| Who pays for upgrades? | Rate case, tariff, cost-allocation filing, and negotiated service terms | Provides evidence about potential utility-cost effects |
A step-by-step way to review a proposed facility
- Define the project phase. Write down the parcel acreage, building count, expected electrical demand, and construction schedule for the phase under review. Mark every number as current, planned, or ultimate capacity.
- Trace the power connection. Locate the serving utility, proposed substation, transmission route, and any public reliability or interconnection studies. Note upgrade ownership, completion dates, and cost allocation.
- Map the water system. Identify the source, treatment provider, permitted withdrawal, expected consumption, discharge destination, seasonal limits, and reuse percentage or volume.
- Read the environmental and planning record. Review zoning applications, environmental assessments, stormwater plans, generator permits, traffic studies, noise analyses, landscaping plans, and conditions of approval.
- Compare commitments with operating reports. For an existing campus, request utility and water-use reporting, permit compliance records, and documentation showing whether promised reuse or mitigation is operational.
- Ask for missing definitions in writing. If a document says “capacity,” “water use,” or “renewable power,” ask whether it means maximum design capacity, average operating use, withdrawal, consumption, or a certificate purchase rather than physical supply.
- Attend the decisions that control the project. Planning hearings, utility commission proceedings, water-permit notices, and environmental-comment periods are the places where conditions and reporting requirements can be added to the record.
How to compare two real projects
When more than one facility is under consideration, compare like with like. A current operating load should not be placed beside another project’s ultimate build-out capacity. Likewise, compare annual water consumption with annual water consumption, not one project’s withdrawal with another’s reclaimed-water offset.
- Electrical demand: current use, initial phase, ultimate capacity, operating hours, and connection voltage.
- Cooling and water: cooling technology, direct withdrawal, direct consumption, source, discharge, seasonal peak, and verified reuse.
- Power-system context: local generation mix, transmission constraints, reliability upgrades, and cost allocation.
- Land and infrastructure: total parcels, easements, substations, generators, water facilities, access roads, and stormwater areas.
- Accountability: permit conditions, reporting frequency, public data, and consequences for missing water or power commitments.
This comparison method keeps national context in its proper role: it explains why electricity and water questions matter, while local records determine what a particular community can expect.
What the evidence can—and cannot—tell a resident
The evidence supports a clear national trend: data-center electricity demand is growing, and the future U.S. share could be substantial. It also supports a clear water lesson: direct facility use and indirect power-sector consumption are different, and workload-level water intensity can vary by more than 10,000-fold. Finally, it shows that campus acreage and mitigation are site-specific, as the Quincy example demonstrates.
It does not establish a universal data-center land footprint, a standard water demand, or an automatic effect on nearby noise, traffic, air quality, property values, or household utility bills. Those conclusions require the project’s own plans, permits, utility filings, and operating data.
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Quick Recap
Key takeaways
- Use the 11.8% national electricity estimate—and its 9.5% to 15.3% scenario range—as context, not as a local forecast.
- Expect a large facility to require continuous, firm power and potentially new grid infrastructure, but verify the connection and cost allocation in local filings.
- Separate direct cooling water from indirect water consumed in electricity generation.
- Ask for both withdrawal and consumption, plus the source, discharge destination, seasonality, and operating status of any reuse system.
- Do not treat the 270-acre Quincy campus as a typical national footprint.
- Base conclusions about a nearby project on its site plan, water documents, environmental review, utility records, and enforceable approval conditions.
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