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There is no single water or electricity figure for a “typical” data center: a facility’s footprint depends on its IT load, utilization, cooling design, climate and power supply. For the United States, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) estimated that data centers used 192 terawatt-hours (TWh) of electricity in 2024, equal to 4.7% of U.S. electricity consumption. That estimate excludes cryptocurrency mining. Water is harder to summarize: facilities may consume it directly for cooling, and power generation can consume water upstream, but a comparable current U.S. total covering both pathways is not established by the cited primary sources.

How much electricity do U.S. data centers use?

LBNL’s June 2026 update estimates U.S. data-center electricity use at 192 TWh in 2024, or 4.7% of U.S. electricity consumption. The estimate comes from a bottom-up model using equipment shipments, device power use, facility types and locations. Its scope excludes cryptocurrency mining, so the figure should not be described as including every computing operation sometimes called a data center.

A terawatt-hour is one billion kilowatt-hours. The national total is useful for understanding the scale of data-center demand, but it is not a measure of the electricity used by one building, one server, or one company. Individual facilities differ greatly in size and in how intensively their equipment runs. A national percentage also says nothing by itself about whether a particular facility’s power is available at a particular hour or how much electricity it uses per computing task.

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What the U.S. forecast means

LBNL’s 2030 Reference Case estimates data-center consumption at 649 TWh, or 11.8% of forecast U.S. electricity use. This is a modeled scenario, not a guaranteed outcome. LBNL gives a combined uncertainty range of 521–843 TWh, equal to 9.5–15.3% of projected U.S. electricity use. The range reflects sensitivity to assumptions such as server deployment and operating conditions; it is more informative than treating the reference case as a precise prediction.

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Keep those forecast figures separate from historical estimates. DOE’s December 2024 announcement, based on LBNL’s 2024 report, said data centers used 176 TWh in 2023 and forecast 325–580 TWh in 2028. LBNL’s June 2026 update supersedes that earlier estimate for current U.S. electricity framing. The different numbers reflect different report vintages and modeling, not a direct measurement showing that consumption suddenly changed from one figure to another.

How much electricity do data centers use worldwide?

The International Energy Agency (IEA) estimated global data-center electricity consumption at 460 TWh in 2024. In its Base Case, the IEA projects more than 1,000 TWh in 2030 and 1,300 TWh in 2035. These global estimates and LBNL’s U.S. estimate come from separate analyses with their own methods and boundaries. They should be attributed to their respective source and year rather than combined as if they were a single standardized dataset.

Forecasts depend on how much computing equipment is installed and used, as well as how efficiently the equipment and supporting systems operate. A data center’s IT load—the electricity used by computing and storage equipment—is only part of the facility’s electricity demand. Power is also used by the systems that distribute electricity and remove heat. The share used for cooling and other support equipment varies with facility design and operating conditions, so an IT capacity figure alone does not give the building’s total electricity use.

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Where does data-center electricity come from?

Electricity can reach a data center from the local grid, from onsite generation, or from a combination of sources. The physical generation mix serving the facility depends on its location and on the power system’s operation. The IEA’s 2025 assessment estimates the current global mix for data centers at approximately 30% coal, 27% renewables, 26% natural gas and 15% nuclear. The shares are approximate and do not add to 100%, in part because of rounding and other sources.

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The U.S. mix in the IEA analysis differs from that global average. Natural gas supplies over 40% of data-center electricity, renewables 24%, nuclear around 20% and coal around 15%. The IEA’s U.S. Base Case projects that between 2024 and 2030, natural-gas generation for data centers will increase by more than 130 TWh annually, while renewable generation will increase by 110 TWh. Those additions are scenario projections, not guaranteed generation outcomes.

Geography and period IEA estimate or projection How to read it
Global, current mix assessment (IEA, 2025) Coal about 30%; renewables about 27%; natural gas 26%; nuclear 15% Approximate physical generation mix; regional mixes differ.
United States, current mix assessment (IEA, 2025) Natural gas over 40%; renewables 24%; nuclear around 20%; coal around 15% U.S.-specific mix, not the global average.
United States, 2024–2030 Base Case (IEA, 2025) Annual natural-gas generation for data centers rises by over 130 TWh; renewables by 110 TWh Projected additions in a scenario, not a measured result.

Physical electricity and renewable-energy contracts are different measures

The IEA describes the physical fuel mix supplying data centers through local grids and onsite generation. That is not necessarily the same as an operator’s contractual or annual renewable-energy procurement claim. A company may buy renewable-energy certificates or sign a power purchase agreement while its facility draws from a grid whose generation mix changes hour by hour. The contract can describe an accounting or procurement arrangement; it does not, on its own, establish that renewable electricity physically served the building at every moment.

When comparing claims about a facility’s electricity, ask what is being counted: the physical electricity supplied at a location, or electricity matched through contracts over a reporting period. Also check whether the number describes annual energy, peak capacity, or a share of total demand. These are different measurements and should not be substituted for one another.

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How much water does a data center use?

Water use has at least two distinct pathways. A facility can consume water onsite to remove heat, while electricity generation can consume water upstream. The two quantities have different boundaries and should not be blended without a clearly stated accounting method. A comparable current national total for U.S. data centers that cleanly combines direct facility water consumption and water consumed in electricity generation is not established in the cited primary sources.

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Direct water use at the facility

Some cooling systems reject heat through cooling towers. In the arrangement described by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP), heat moves from IT equipment through cooling loops to a tower, where evaporation releases heat to the atmosphere. Evaporation is a direct water-consumption pathway. Towers also discharge some water as blowdown to control the concentration of dissolved minerals. The amount of water required depends on the IT heat load and the efficiency of each stage of the cooling system.

Not every data center uses the same cooling design or consumes the same amount of water. A facility’s water footprint depends on its equipment load, cooling technology, operating settings and local conditions. A site-level number therefore needs its boundary and time period: for example, whether it counts only water consumed inside the facility or also water associated with electricity supply. Without those details, two reported figures may not be comparable.

Indirect water use from electricity generation

Power plants may consume water while generating the electricity that a data center uses. The amount depends on the generation technologies in the relevant power supply. This is an upstream impact, not water delivered to the data center’s cooling system. A facility with low direct water use can still be associated with water consumption in electricity generation; conversely, a direct cooling-water figure does not capture that upstream use.

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Water accounting also distinguishes withdrawal from consumption. Withdrawal is water taken from a source. Consumption refers to water not returned to the same watershed in the same condition or time frame. Because the terms describe different things, they cannot simply be added or compared as if they were interchangeable. Any combined footprint should say which measures it includes and how it treats water returned after use.

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What WUE measures—and what it leaves out

Water-usage effectiveness (WUE) is a site-based metric relating facility water use to IT energy use, commonly expressed in liters per kilowatt-hour. It can help describe direct facility water intensity relative to computing energy. To interpret a WUE figure, check its reporting boundary and period, and whether the reported water quantity is withdrawal or consumption.

WUE does not, by itself, count water consumed to generate the facility’s electricity. It is therefore not a complete measure of a data center’s total water impact. Two sites’ WUE values are most useful when the underlying accounting boundaries and operating conditions are clear; the metric alone does not explain their total water use or the water impacts of their power supplies.

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How cooling choices affect water and electricity

Cooling systems involve trade-offs. FEMP describes air-side economizing—using cool outside air when conditions allow—as a way to reduce cooling-system energy and water use. The potential savings depend on climate and operating set points, so it is not a guaranteed result for every site. Whether outside air is useful depends on local conditions and how the facility is operated.

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For cooling towers, FEMP notes that increasing cycles of concentration from three to six can reduce makeup-water requirements by 20% and blowdown by 50%, citing its Cooling Tower Best Management Practice. These are system-level guidance examples, not universal data-center savings. Actual results depend on the tower and its operating conditions. Makeup water is the water added to replace losses and maintain operation; reducing blowdown does not mean evaporation or all water consumption disappears.

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How to judge a data-center water or power claim

Before comparing a facility’s footprint with a national estimate or another site, identify the accounting boundary. A clear claim should make it possible to answer the following questions:

  • Where? Is the figure for one facility, a region, the United States or the world?
  • When? Does it describe a measured historical year or a modeled forecast?
  • What boundary? Does it include only direct facility use, or upstream electricity-generation impacts too?
  • Which water measure? Is it withdrawal, consumption, or both, reported separately?
  • Which electricity measure? Is it TWh of energy, peak power capacity, or a percentage of national consumption?
  • Which supply accounting? Does the generation mix describe physical grid and onsite supply, or contractual procurement over a period?
  • How certain is it? Is a number a central scenario, a range, a facility measurement, or a forecast?

These checks matter because a facility’s direct cooling-water number, a company’s renewable procurement total and a national electricity forecast answer different questions. A useful comparison keeps the unit, geography, year and boundary visible rather than reducing the result to one headline figure.

What can and cannot be concluded from national figures

The strongest current national electricity anchor in the cited U.S. analysis is LBNL’s 192 TWh estimate for 2024, with its cryptocurrency-mining exclusion stated. The 2030 numbers describe a reference scenario and a wide uncertainty range. The IEA’s global and U.S. mix estimates show that data-center electricity is supplied by different combinations of fuels and technologies depending on region, and that contractual renewable procurement should not be mistaken for the physical grid mix.

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For water, the defensible answer is more qualified: direct cooling consumption and upstream power-generation consumption are real but distinct pathways, while the cited primary sources do not establish a comparable current U.S. total combining them. A single water figure without a defined boundary, measurement type and year can obscure more than it explains.

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