Power Generation, Not Cooling, Drives Data Center Water Consumption, Ceres Reports

A Ceres report published August 25, 2026 finds that generating electricity — not on-site cooling — accounts for most 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.