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A data center’s electricity use and water use are connected, but they are not the same measure. Electricity powers servers and cooling equipment; cooling choices affect both the facility’s power demand and the water used on site. Generating that electricity can also consume water elsewhere. To estimate a local impact, keep those water categories separate and use facility- and location-specific data where possible.
How much electricity do data centers use?
The latest reviewed U.S. historical estimate is 192 terawatt-hours (TWh) in 2024, or 4.7% of total U.S. electricity consumption. The Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) and U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) figure is modeled, and its scope excludes cryptocurrency mining. See the 2025 U.S. Data Center Energy Usage Report.
The same report’s 2030 reference case projects 649 TWh of U.S. data-center electricity use. Its compounded uncertainty range is 521–843 TWh. These are projections based on assumptions about equipment, power, utilization, and cooling—not a promise that demand will land at a particular point in the range.
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One free scan finds every outdated or missing driver and matches the right update for your exact hardware.Free scan · exact hardware matchFor context, LBNL’s 2024 report estimated U.S. data-center electricity use at 176 TWh in 2023, or 4.4% of U.S. consumption. The newer update revises the historical estimate and should be used for the latest U.S. figure; the older figure describes what that earlier report estimated. The 2024 report is available from LBNL.
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Global figures are a different comparison
The International Energy Agency’s (IEA) global base case projects data-center electricity use of around 945 TWh in 2030, just under 3% of global electricity consumption. This is a global forecast, not a U.S. historical statistic. Its geography and projection are different from LBNL’s U.S. estimate. See the IEA analysis of energy demand from AI.
Why electricity and water figures need separate accounting
A facility uses electricity for IT equipment and supporting systems, including cooling. Much of the electricity used by servers ultimately becomes heat that must be managed. Cooling design can change the facility’s electricity needs and its direct water consumption, but a site’s water number does not capture all water associated with its power use.
There are two distinct water categories to track:
- Direct site water: water consumed at the data center, including water used by cooling systems. LBNL estimated approximately 66 billion liters of direct U.S. site water consumption in 2023.
- Indirect electricity-source water: water consumed at power plants to generate electricity used by data centers. LBNL estimated nearly 800 billion liters for U.S. data-center electricity in 2023. Its analysis used location-specific grid factors, but did not incorporate individual power-purchase agreements or behind-the-meter generation.
Both 2023 water figures are estimates from LBNL’s 2024 report. They should not be treated as a facility’s measured water use or as a precise local estimate.
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Also distinguish consumption from withdrawal. Consumption is water not returned to the immediate water cycle—for example, water lost through evaporation. A reported water figure is hard to interpret unless its definition and boundary are clear.
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How cooling changes the trade-off
Cooling systems do not fall on a single scale from “good” to “bad.” Evaporative and water-cooled systems can reduce electricity use while consuming more water at the site. Air-cooled systems can use little or no cooling water but require more energy. The local climate, system design, and operating practices all matter.
For that reason, compare direct site water and site water-use effectiveness (WUE) alongside facility electricity and the water effects of its electricity supply. A low site-water figure can coexist with higher electricity use, while a favorable grid water factor says nothing by itself about water used for on-site cooling. LBNL describes variation by cooling system, space type, operating practice, and climate in its 2024 report.
Do not infer zero water use from a broad description such as “closed-loop cooling.” A cooling configuration may limit or change water use, but the label alone does not establish a facility’s annual water consumption. Facility-specific measurements and a stated metric boundary are more useful than a general design description.
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Use actual annual facility data if it is available. Ask for or identify the reporting year, location, annual electricity, annual site water consumption, cooling configuration, and the electricity metric’s boundary: IT load or total facility load. Measured facility data is preferable to a national average or a modeled proxy.
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1. Establish total facility electricity
If the reported electricity figure is already total facility electricity, use it as-is. Total facility electricity includes IT equipment and supporting infrastructure, so applying power usage effectiveness (PUE) to that total would count the supporting load twice.
If only IT electricity is known, estimate the facility total with:
Facility electricity (kWh) = IT electricity (kWh) × PUE
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2. Estimate direct site water
Use metered annual site-water consumption when possible. If the facility’s site WUE is known, a rough calculation is:
Site water (liters) = facility electricity (kWh) × site WUE (liters/kWh)
Before multiplying, check what electricity appears in the WUE denominator. Some values are reported per kWh of IT electricity rather than per kWh of total facility electricity; those denominators are not interchangeable. Confirm the metric boundary and reporting period. If either is unknown, label the result approximate rather than presenting it as a measured facility total.
3. Estimate indirect water from electricity generation
To estimate water consumed at power plants for the facility’s electricity, use a location- and year-matched grid water-consumption intensity:
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Source water (liters) = electricity (kWh) × local grid water-consumption intensity (liters/kWh)
Choose a factor for the facility’s location and the same year as the electricity data. LBNL’s U.S. analysis associates counties with balancing authorities and derives annual-average grid factors from plant generation and water data. This estimates source water, not water delivered to the data center. The calculation may not reflect an individual power-purchase agreement or on-site generation; LBNL’s facility-level analysis does not incorporate those arrangements. See its methodology and estimates.
4. Present the result with its boundary and uncertainty
Report direct site water and electricity-source water separately. If you add them into a combined footprint, state that it combines those two categories and specify whether the values represent consumption or withdrawal. Include the reporting year, location, cooling information, and whether electricity means IT load or total facility load.
If actual electricity, water, cooling, or power-supply data is missing, give a range or identify the missing input rather than implying false precision. A national average can provide context, but it is not a substitute for local data.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What to compare across facilities or designs
For a useful comparison, align the measurement period and boundaries first. Then compare the same set of measures for each facility or design:
- Annual total facility electricity in kWh or MWh.
- IT electricity and PUE, if available.
- Direct site water consumption and site WUE, including WUE’s electricity denominator.
- Indirect water intensity for the electricity supply.
- Cooling system, operating climate, and reporting year.
- Whether figures are measured facility data or modeled estimates.
Without aligned definitions, two numbers with the same units may still describe different things—for example, WUE per unit of IT electricity versus per unit of total facility electricity.
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