Activists are increasingly viewing data centers as a significant threat.
Opponents argue that these centers consume massive amounts of electricity and water to support their artificial intelligence operations, leading protests to erupt and Democratic lawmakers to press for halting their development in Albany.
However, some specialists suggest that the backlash against data centers is more about societal fears than solid evidence, often relying on conjectures and sometimes alarmist forecasts.
It seems that broader worries regarding the effects of AI are being projected onto data centers.
“Future data center development might be overestimated by three to five times,” said Jonathan Coomey, an energy researcher with decades of experience on the power consumption of data centers. “It’s not simply a matter of saying, ‘I don’t want water for my data center.’ You have to consider the trade-offs involved.”
The primary focus of concern seems to be that cooling servers and electrical equipment, along with air conditioning, requires significant energy and water.
Journalist Karen Hao popularized fears about water usage at data centers in Chile in her book, Empire of AI, but it appears she overstated the actual water consumption by a thousand times.
According to the Taxpayer Protection Alliance, New York’s data centers accounted for merely 0.2% of the state’s water use and 3.5% of its electricity in 2025.
David Mitton, a researcher in sustainable computing at the University of Oxford, noted that “people tend to react to really big numbers” that sound alarming without providing necessary context.
For instance, a study by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory estimates that U.S. data centers will consume 17.4 billion gallons of water this year. While that sounds substantial, it’s relatively minor compared to other water uses; swimming pools average 200 billion gallons annually, and golf courses consume 476 billion gallons. New York City alone receives one million gallons daily for its nine million residents.
“Data centers make up less than 1% of U.S. water usage. Agriculture, on the other hand, is the major consumer, responsible for around 80%,” Mitton remarked.
“If you’re talking about data centers consuming millions of gallons each day, agriculture’s use is in the tens of billions.”
With new data centers being built, their efficiency is expected to improve as well. Amazon reported that it plans to utilize 2.5 billion gallons of water by 2025 and aims to become “water positive” by 2030.
Coomey also investigates the power consumption of data centers and argues that many forecasts are based on uncertain future growth estimates, often resulting in inflated public perceptions.
“The issue of double counting is particularly misleading when it comes to overestimating the problem,” he assessed.
As per Lawrence Berkeley Lab, data centers in the U.S. are anticipated to use 270 terawatt hours (TWh) of electricity by 2026, which is slightly less than the total electricity employed for residential and commercial lighting each year and about 60% of what is consumed for air conditioning nationwide. Overall, the U.S. is projected to consume roughly 4,200 TWh in 2025.
Nonetheless, the narrative that data centers represent a distinct environmental menace resonates with protesters, who chant phrases like “Data centers are energy vampires” and “Elites hate data centers.”
This month, New York Democrats voted to pause approvals for large data center constructions for a year, marking the first such suspension in the U.S.
“Politicians often seek populist support by targeting scapegoats, with data centers being the latest example,” said Ross Marchand, executive director of the Taxpayer Protection Alliance. “Whenever politicians sense fear among the populace, they see a chance to create division and mobilize support.”
While it’s clear that data centers are not without issues, they should be developed thoughtfully. As Mitton emphasized, they can alter the landscape of rural areas and may have adverse effects in regions already facing water scarcity.
“None of these challenges are impossible to overcome,” he stated. “It all boils down to community engagement and understanding local concerns.”
However, the anti-data center movement has transformed from local community interests to a broader online anti-capitalist campaign that utilizes data centers as a means to criticize technological advancement.
Coomey suspects that external actors may be exploiting this situation to impede U.S. progress in AI.
“I’m confident there are individuals stirring discontent for their own agendas,” he said. “Part of it stems from community members who genuinely care, but there are also state actors working to create unrest in the U.S.”
Regrettably, many individuals fall prey to this anti-progress narrative because of their fears.
The surge against data centers seems less grounded in hard data and more a reflection of anxieties related to the impacts of AI on our economy and lives. The concerns over water and electricity usage mirror a deeper uncertainty about the future.
Young people have valid reasons to be apprehensive about AI, but it’s crucial they base their concerns on accurate information rather than perpetuating misinformation.
