DATA CENTER ...um, DATA
Links for the curious and discerning truth seeker
Data Center Reference Sources
The sources below are the most authoritative current references on data center energy use, water consumption, grid impacts, and ratepayer cost allocation. They are organized so that primary government, national laboratory, and utility research sources come first, followed by industry market research and trade press. When citing data center statistics, trace claims back to LBNL, EPRI, IEA, FERC, Dell’Oro, JLL, or CBRE as the primary source.
Three caveats to keep in mind:
First, most of these sources do not refute concerns about noise, water, and electricity rates. The defensible argument for behind-the-meter projects like the Terra Energy Center is that the legitimate harms documented in these sources come from grid-connected data centers in hot, dry locations using socialized transmission, none of which apply to a self-generating facility in interior Alaska.
Second, the rate-shifting sources show the regulatory consensus is moving toward making large-load customers pay their own way, which is exactly the model behind-the-meter generation provides.
Third, Microsoft’s own zero-water cooling designs and the Equinix WUE explainer establish that water consumption is a design choice tied to climate, not an inherent feature of data centers.
The point of this document is to show that there is a kernel of truth in everything you read. But it is generally overblown or not germane to Alaska.
For instance, if the data center is not hooked to an existing grid eg, Terra Energy, but brings its own power to the mix, the paradigm shifts exponentially.
The same can be said for the water use. In Alaska, with cooler temperatures, and using the new technology cooling, a data center will likely use no, or very little water.
As far as the noise, that is why it will be situated in an industrial zoned area, away from housing developments. You can see that the claim that the noise can be heard miles away simply fails on the data and knowledge of current noise mitigation techniques as well as distance.
Government and National Laboratory
• Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory — 2024 U.S. Data Center Energy Usage Report (LBNL-2001637) — https://eta-publications.lbl.gov/sites/default/files/2024-12/lbnl-2024-united-states-data-center-energy-usage-report_1.pdf
• DOE announcement of the LBNL report — https://www.energy.gov/articles/doe-releases-new-report-evaluating-increase-electricity-demand-data-centers
• DOE Electricity Demand Growth Resource Hub — https://www.energy.gov/policy/electricity-demand-growth-resource-hub
• Congressional Research Service — Data Centers and Their Energy Consumption FAQ (R48646) — https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/R48646
• DOE Federal Energy Management Program — Cooling Water Efficiency for Federal Data Centers — https://www.energy.gov/cmei/femp/cooling-water-efficiency-opportunities-federal-data-centers
Utility and Grid Research
• EPRI — Powering Intelligence (main report) — https://powering-intelligence.epri.com/load-growth.html
• EPRI — State-level data center power dashboard — https://powering-intelligence.epri.com/dashboard/
• EPRI — Powering Intelligence 2026 FAQ — https://restservice.epri.com/publicattachment/96784
• FERC State of the Markets reports — https://www.ferc.gov/news-events/news/state-markets-reports
• NERC long-term reliability assessments — https://www.nerc.com/pa/RAPA/ra/Pages/default.aspx
Rate Shifting and Cost Allocation
• Harvard Electricity Law Initiative — Extracting Profits from the Public — https://eelp.law.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Harvard-ELI-Extracting-Profits-from-the-Public.pdf
• Pennsylvania PUC large-load tariff order — https://www.firstnewsnowpa.com/puc-acts-to-protect-ratepayers-guide-data-center-growth-with-new-large-load-tariff-framework/
• WHYY — Pennsylvania ratepayer impact coverage — https://whyy.org/articles/pennsylvania-public-utility-commission-data-center-protection/
• SEPA — U.S. Data Center Gold Rush Drives Surge in New Utility Tariffs — https://sepapower.org/knowledge/u-s-data-center-gold-rush-drives-surge-in-new-utility-tariffs/
• DSIRE Insight — state-by-state tariff survey — https://www.dsireinsight.com/blog/2026/4/20/us-data-center-gold-rush-drives-surge-in-new-utility-tariffs
Water Consumption and Cooling
• Microsoft — Zero-water evaporation next-generation datacenters — https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-cloud/blog/2024/12/09/sustainable-by-design-next-generation-datacenters-consume-zero-water-for-cooling/
• Equinix — Water Usage Effectiveness (WUE) explainer — https://blog.equinix.com/blog/2024/11/13/what-is-water-usage-effectiveness-wue-in-data-centers/
• EESI — Data Centers and Water Consumption — https://www.eesi.org/articles/view/data-centers-and-water-consumption
• TechTarget — How data centers use and manage water (Microsoft regional WUE comparison) — https://www.techtarget.com/searchdatacenter/tip/How-to-manage-data-center-water-usage-sustainably
International and Macro
• International Energy Agency — Energy and AI report — https://www.iea.org/reports/energy-and-ai
Industry Market Research
• JLL — 2026 Global Data Center Outlook — https://www.jll.com/en-us/insights/market-outlook/data-center-outlook
• CBRE — North America Data Center Trends — https://www.cbre.com/insights/reports/north-america-data-center-trends
• Cushman & Wakefield — Global Data Center Market Comparison — https://www.cushmanwakefield.com/en/insights/global-data-center-market-comparison
• Dell’Oro Group — data center capex research —
https://www.delloro.com/
• S&P Global / 451 Research — 2026 Data Center Trends — https://www.spglobal.com/energy/en/news-research/special-reports/energy-transition/2026-trends-in-data-center-services-infrastructure
• Synergy Research Group —
https://www.srgresearch.com/
Trade Press
• Utility Dive — data center coverage — https://www.utilitydive.com/topic/data-centers/
• Data Center Dynamics (DCD) —
https://www.datacenterdynamics.com/
• Data Center Knowledge —
https://www.datacenterknowledge.com/