Power Generation, Not Cooling, Drives Data Center Water Use, Ceres Finds

A Ceres report published August 25, 2026 finds that electricity generation — not on-site cooling — accounts for the bulk of data center water use. Across seven states hosting half of U.S. data centers, 3.4 trillion gallons of freshwater are consumed annually for power generation, roughly 12 times the combined annual water use of Los Angeles, Phoenix, and Washington, D.C.