Permit threshold	Washington Ecology regulates groundwater pumping beyond 5,000 gallons a day
Legal standard	State Supreme Court: even small impairment of an older water right is not allowed1,2,3
Public water oversight	EPA and state Department of Health set contamination limits for public water systems4
Private wells	No agency tests private household wells unless the owner pays4,5
Key lawsuit	Four Georgia families sued Meta Sept. 1, 2026 over well depletion/contamination5
Lawsuit status	As of October 2026, no ruling; Meta disputes the claims5

If a city sells the water instead of Ecology permitting it directly, the city's own water right and its elected council make the call.

Whether a claim has merit is decided case by case, first by agencies and then by courts. As of October 2026, no court or agency has found that a data center depleted or contaminated a neighbor's well.

• A data center in Washington that needs more than 5,000 gallons a day must get a water right from Ecology or buy water from a city or district that already holds one^2,6.

• Ecology approves a new right only if water is available, the use is beneficial, older rights are not impaired, and the public interest is not harmed. Rulings in Postema (2000), Foster (2015) and Hirst (2016) make the impairment test strict^1,3,7,8.

• Neighbors get a 30-day window to protest a water-right application to Ecology, then 30 days to appeal a decision to the Pollution Control Hearings Board (PCHB). Land-use decisions carry a 21-day appeal window^9,10,11.

• Public water systems follow federal and state contaminant limits. Private wells don't, and EPA told Congress it does not regulate them^4,5.

• In every named case found, including Meta in Georgia, Google in The Dalles, Oregon, and Microsoft in Arizona, no public before-and-after well data exists. Claims and rebuttals rest on resident reports and company-commissioned studies^5,12,13.

• Documented diesel spills at data centers have reached storm drains and creeks, not confirmed drinking wells¹⁴.

• Water figures are often misread. Withdrawal, consumption and offsite "replenishment" are different numbers, and company-wide totals say little about one county^15,16,17.

• The proposed West Richland site had no filed application and no named water supplier in the reports found. Power, through Benton Rural Electric Association and the Bonneville Power Administration, is the developer's stated main hurdle^18,19.

Washington doctrine	Prior appropriation, "first in time, first in right"6
Groundwater law	1945 Groundwater Code, RCW 90.446
Permit test	Four-part test under RCW 90.03.290: availability, beneficial use, no impairment, public interest1
Exempt well limit	Industrial use up to 5,000 gallons/day needs no permit2
Georgia permit threshold	Withdrawals above 100,000 gallons/day require EPD permit22
Georgia doctrine	Regulated riparian, reasonable use, no seniority line21

The Ecology director is appointed by the governor with Senate consent²⁰.

Exempt wells still carry a priority date. Ecology has had to curtail them when they hurt senior rights⁶. A data center campus drawing hundreds of thousands of gallons a day can't rely on the exemption.

Three state Supreme Court rulings shape any new permit. Postema v. PCHB (2000) held that groundwater pumping connected to streams must be denied if it impairs senior rights or minimum flows⁸.

Foster v. Ecology (2015) barred Ecology from approving Yelm's permit under a public-interest exception and allowed only water-for-water mitigation³.

Whatcom County v. Hirst (2016) required counties to confirm water is legally available before issuing building permits that rely on wells. The Legislature answered with the Streamflow Restoration Act in January 2018⁷.

Groundwater permits	Ecology grants or denies new water rights and changes to existing ones1
Tri-Cities permit	96,619 acre-feet/year allowed; only 7,227 acre-feet currently mitigated23
West Richland vote	Council voted Feb. 18 to allow data centers in transition and light industrial zones19
Drinking water limits	EPA sets maximum contaminant levels under the Safe Drinking Water Act4
Benton PUD threshold	Loads above 3,500 kW go on a separate rate schedule and pay construction costs26,27
UTC docket	Docket UE-260162 on large energy loads opened April 2026; draft policy expected this fall28,29,30

Ecology's director is appointed²⁰. City council members who decide water sales are elected.

Trammell Crow Company, a Dallas developer, is studying 500 acres at Lewis and Clark Ranch, possibly growing to 1,000¹⁸. West Richland is served by Benton Rural Electric Association, a member-owned cooperative¹⁸. Whether that co-op has a large-load tariff was not confirmed.

The PCHB hears appeals of Ecology water decisions. Its three members are appointed by the governor with Senate consent, no more than two from one party²⁴.

Ecology sets groundwater quality standards in WAC 173-200, using the strictest of EPA's limits, EPA's health goals and state limits, and enforces them through permits, orders and court action²⁵.

The state Department of Health recommends private well owners test yearly for bacteria and nitrate. Testing is voluntary and paid by the owner⁴.

No agency regulates private well water in Georgia, EPA told Congress in the Meta matter⁵. Silt, the main complaint there, is not a listed health contaminant.

A legislative bill report on water-right appeals says the person appealing carries the burden of proof¹⁰. That report dates from 1997-98, so the current rule should be checked against statute.

After harm occurs, residents generally sue in civil court for nuisance or trespass, and a judge or jury weighs expert testimony on cause. The Georgia suit against Meta is the only data center water case of this kind found⁵.

Benton PUD's Electricity Intensive Load policy requires a two-month deposit from large loads and states such loads are "a financial risk" to other customers²⁷.

The UTC regulates investor-owned utilities and has three appointed commissioners²⁸.

US DC water, 2023	About 17 billion gallons used directly, plus 211 billion at supplying power plants31
The Dalles, 2021	Google data centers used about 355 million gallons, 29% of city use, nearly triple 201732
Quincy, 2021	Microsoft cooling demand about 409 million gallons33
TSMC Phoenix	About 4.75 million gallons a day intake, about 65% recycled on site34
Microsoft Goodyear cap	About 1 million gallons a day per site13
Benton County orchard	Rights to 202.8 acre-feet a year, about 66 million gallons35

Data centers draw water from city systems, their own wells, or treated wastewater. The mix varies by site.

Site numbers range widely. Google's Council Bluffs, Iowa site used about 1 billion gallons in a year, while its Pflugerville, Texas site used about 10,000 gallons¹⁵.

In Quincy, about 138 million gallons of Microsoft's 2021 total came from a reuse plant and 260 million from irrigation canal water, with very little from wells³³.

The Benton County orchard figure is one farm, not a county total. No county-wide comparison of agriculture and data center use was found.

Washington water-right holders must meter and report use to Ecology each year³⁶. A data center on city water shows up in city records instead.

Companies disclose unevenly. A 2025 review found Google gives facility-level figures, Microsoft does not break out data centers, and Amazon publishes no water volumes¹⁵.

The Dalles fought to keep Google's numbers secret. After the Wasco County district attorney ordered release, the city sued The Oregonian in 2022. It settled in December 2022, released 10 years of data, and Google said it would stop treating site-level water use as a trade secret nationwide^37,38.

Meta suit filed	Sept. 1, 2026, by four families, Gwinnett County, Georgia5
Google water deal	$28.5 million, council vote 5-0, Nov. 2021, The Dalles, Oregon39
Microsoft Goodyear deal	$36 million toward wastewater plant, approved March 202540
Tucson vote	Unanimous, Aug. 6, 2025, ended Project Blue talks41,42
Fayette County billing	QTS billed $147,474 for about 29 million unmetered gallons44
Linn County fine	$20,000 fine over 40 unpermitted wells, Cedar Rapids site45

Meta, Newton County, Georgia

Residents near Mansfield reported sediment in their wells and lost water pressure after construction began, according to New York Times reporting summarized in July 2025¹². The county water authority did no well studies before construction¹².

The families say blasting and excavation disturbed the aquifer⁵. Meta says a study it paid for found groundwater flows away from the plaintiffs' land, and that the campus uses utility water, not wells. It calls the suit "baseless"⁵.

The study's data has not been published, and no state agency has reported on the wells.

Google, The Dalles, Oregon

Google transferred water rights to the city, which is building wells and underground storage³⁹. WaterWatch of Oregon, an advocacy group, raised concerns about Dog River and listed fish³². No aquifer-level data tied to Google's use was found.

Microsoft and Project Blue, Arizona

Microsoft's Goodyear sites sit in the Phoenix Active Management Area, a state groundwater control zone. Microsoft also agreed to switch future buildings to air cooling⁴⁰.

In Tucson, the city council cited water, power and nondisclosure agreements as reasons to end talks on Beale Infrastructure's Project Blue^41,42. In May 2026 the city cut off a contractor that used about 2 acre-feet of city water for dust control outside its service area⁴³.

Other formal actions

QTS was not fined over the Fayette County, Georgia lines⁴⁴. No neighbor well harm was documented in the Linn County, Iowa case⁴⁵.

The Ohio EPA dropped a statewide general discharge permit for data center wastewater after more than 7,000 comments and will issue individual permits instead⁴⁶.

Diesel spills include about 5,000 gallons at Equinix in Secaucus, New Jersey, and more than 12,000 gallons at a Cingular Wireless site in Bothell, Washington, in 2008. Both reached storm drains or surface water¹⁴.

Google	Funds most of The Dalles water infrastructure upgrade39
Microsoft	Co-funded Quincy's water reuse plant47
Meta	Transferred 1.79 billion gallons of stored water credits to Mesa, Arizona48
Benton PUD	Charges large loads separately to protect other customers27

Industry representatives argue their water use is small compared with farms and chip plants, and that sites on city water do not pump from neighbors' aquifers^5,34.

Washington's water rights process already lets neighbors protest a water right, and it requires the Department of Ecology to protect senior rights holders^1,10.

Critics say disclosure is poor. Microsoft redacted water figures in Goodyear records, and The Dalles fought for 13 months to hide Google's use^13,37.

"Water positive" pledges count projects that may sit in other watersheds. A local well owner gets none of that offset^49,50.

Residents in Georgia say no one measured their wells before construction, which leaves them unable to prove harm¹².

Opponents in the Tri-Cities raise water use and Hanford groundwater plumes. A Change.org petition seeks a moratorium in Richland and West Richland; its signature count was not confirmed⁵¹.

Tax break cost	About $205,000 per required job, per 2016 state audit52,53
Bill	Washington HB 2515, would require water/energy reporting54
Status	Stalled in Senate, 202655
Poll, Aug 2025	44% support, 42% opposition to nearby data center (Heatmap, 3,741 voters)56
Poll, 2026	Opposition near 71%-75%, per Heatmap and Gallup reports57,58

Washington's sales tax exemption for rural data centers carries no water conditions in the summaries reviewed.

HB 2515 also would have required data centers to pay their own power costs, beyond the reporting requirement.

Meta GA water (source 1)	~102,000 gallons/day12
Meta GA water (source 2)	~500,000 gallons/day12
Microsoft Goodyear gift (TV)	$36 million13
Microsoft Goodyear gift (trade press)	over $40 million40
Google 2025 consumption	10.9 billion gallons16
Google 2025 replenished	7.7 billion gallons, claimed as 78%59

The replenished figure, if truly 78% of consumption, implies consumption near 9.9 billion gallons, not 10.9 billion. The two numbers do not reconcile^16,59.

In the Georgia aquifer dispute, Meta's study says groundwater flows away from the plaintiffs' properties. The plaintiffs say construction disturbed the aquifer. Neither side has made its underlying data public⁵.

Who would supply water to the West Richland site, and under which water right?

Would Ecology, the city, or both hold a public hearing before any water allocation?

Does Benton Rural Electric Association have a large-load rate like Benton PUD's?

What will the Gwinnett County court find on cause in the Meta case?

Has anyone measured private wells near a data center before and after construction?

• AMA: Active Management Area (Arizona)

• DOH: Washington State Department of Health

• Ecology: Washington State Department of Ecology

• EPA: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

• EPD: Georgia Environmental Protection Division

• kW: kilowatt

• LBNL: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

• LUPA: Land Use Petition Act

• MCL: maximum contaminant level

• PCHB: Pollution Control Hearings Board

• PUD: public utility district

• RCW: Revised Code of Washington

• SEPA: State Environmental Policy Act

• UTC: Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission

• WAC: Washington Administrative Code

¹ RCW 90.03.290, water right permit test — https://app.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=90.03.290 — primary — Ecology's four-part test for a new water right

² RCW 90.44.050, groundwater permit exemption — https://app.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=90.44.050 — primary — 5,000 gallon-a-day exemption, including industrial use

³ Foster decision (Ecology) — https://ecology.wa.gov/water-shorelines/water-supply/water-rights/case-law/foster-decision — primary — 2015 ruling, no impairment of instream flows, in-kind mitigation only

⁴ Water quality and private wells (Garfield County Public Health, citing DOH) — https://garfieldcopublichealthwa.gov/healthy-places/water-quality/ — primary — Private wells outside federal rules; recommended tests; read via search summary

⁵ Georgia families sue Meta, accuse its data center of tainting their water (AJC) — https://www.ajc.com/news/2026/09/georgia-families-sue-meta-accuse-its-data-center-of-tainting-their-water/ — center — Sept. 1, 2026 suit, Meta response, EPA statement on private wells

⁶ Groundwater permit exemption (Ecology) — https://ecology.wa.gov/water-shorelines/water-supply/water-rights/groundwater-permit-exemption — primary — 1945 Groundwater Code, priority dates, curtailing exempt wells

⁷ Hirst decision (Ecology) — https://ecology.wa.gov/water-shorelines/water-supply/water-rights/case-law/hirst-decision — primary — 2016 ruling and 2018 Streamflow Restoration Act

⁸ Hirst and Postema summary (Paine Hamblen) — https://painehamblen.com/?p=2430 — unknown — Law firm summary of the Postema holding

⁹ RCW 43.21B.230, PCHB appeals — https://app.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=43.21B.230 — primary — 30-day appeal window, person with standing

¹⁰ Water right permit process schematics (ORIA) — https://www.oria.wa.gov/Portals/_oria/VersionedDocuments/Permit_Schematics/Water-Right-Permit-Process-Schematics -New.pdf — primary — 30-day protest and appeal windows, burden on appellant; read via search summary

¹¹ RCW 36.70C.040, Land Use Petition Act deadline — https://app.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=36.70C.040 — primary — 21-day deadline to file a land use petition

¹² Meta data center impacts local water supply in Newton County (PPC Land) — https://ppc.land/meta-data-center-impacts-local-water-supply-in-newton-county/ — unknown — Secondary summary of NYT reporting; well complaints, county use figures

¹³ Microsoft building two huge data centers in Arizona (DatacenterDynamics) — https://www.datacenterdynamics.com/en/news/microsoft-building-two-huge-data-centers-arizona/ — center — 1 million gallon/day cap per site, storage credits, over $40 million figure

¹⁴ Data center leak spills diesel fuel in Secaucus (NBC New York) — https://www.nbcnewyork.com/new-jersey/data-center-leak-spills-diesel-fuel-secaucus/6547622 — center — Secaucus spill; Bothell 2008 figure from search summary

¹⁵ Data centers consume massive amounts of water (Civil Beat / The Conversation) — https://www.civilbeat.org/2025/08/data-centers-consume-massive-amounts-of-water-companies-rarely-say-exactly-how-much/ — center — Company disclosure comparison, site-level ranges

¹⁶ Google 2026 Environmental Report — https://sustainability.google/google-2026-environmental-report/ — primary — 78% replenishment, 7.7 billion gallons

¹⁷ Balancing Bits and Drops (arXiv preprint) — https://arxiv.org/pdf/2607.22617 — academic — Definitions of withdrawal, discharge and consumption

¹⁸ West Richland data center (Tri-Cities Business News) — https://www.tricitiesbusinessnews.com/articles/west-richland-data-center — center — Developer, acreage, power supplier, no water supplier named

¹⁹ West Richland residents press for say on possible data center (NBC Right Now) — https://www.nbcrightnow.com/news/west-richland-residents-press-for-say-on-possible-data-center-land-deal/article_e6ebf301-3717-48d4-8296-4cbb2e417a88.html — center — Council zoning vote, no application filed; read via search summary

²⁰ RCW 43.21A.050, Ecology director — https://app.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=43.21A.050 — primary — Director appointed by governor with Senate consent

²¹ Water management laws in Georgia (UGA River Basin Center) — https://rivercenter.uga.edu/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Water-Management-Laws-GA-Howett.pdf — academic — Regulated riparian system and reasonable use

²² O.C.G.A. 12-5-96 — https://law.justia.com/codes/georgia/title-12/chapter-5/article-3/part-2/section-12-5-96 — primary — Georgia 100,000 gallon-a-day permit threshold

²³ Tri-Cities shared water permit S4-30976P (City of Richland) — https://ci.richland.wa.us/home/showpublisheddocument/4603/636265731864370000 — primary — Permit volumes and mitigated first phase; read via search summary

²⁴ RCW 43.21B.020, Pollution Control Hearings Board — https://app.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=43.21B.020 — primary — PCHB appointment and party-balance rules

²⁵ WAC 173-200, groundwater quality standards — https://app.leg.wa.gov/WAC/default.aspx?cite=173-200&full=true — primary — State groundwater standards and enforcement

²⁶ RCW 54.12.010, PUD commissioners — https://app.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=54.12.010 — primary — PUD commissioners are elected

²⁷ Electricity Intensive Load policy (Benton PUD) — https://bentonpud.org/Services/Energy/Electricity-Intensive-Load — primary — Rate Schedule 35, deposits, financial-risk statement

²⁸ RCW 80.01.010, Utilities and Transportation Commission — https://app.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=80.01.010 — primary — UTC commissioners appointed

²⁹ UTC technical conference on large energy loads — https://www.utc.wa.gov/news/2026/utc-host-technical-conference-large-energy-loads-april-27 — primary — Docket UE-260162

³⁰ Data centers can raise electricity prices; WA wants to prevent that (Yakima Herald-Republic) — https://www.yakimaherald.com/news/northwest/data-centers-can-raise-electricity-prices-wa-wants-to-prevent-that/article_4fa5e411-09c6-5edc-bb47-13ebd198c673.html — center — UTC proposals and timeline

³¹ 2024 United States Data Center Energy Usage Report (LBNL) — https://datacenters.lbl.gov/publications/2024-lbnl-data-center-energy-usage-report — primary — 17 billion gallons direct, 211 billion indirect; read via search summary

³² Google's water use soaring in The Dalles (WaterWatch of Oregon) — https://waterwatch.org/googles-water-use-is-soaring-in-the-dalles-records-show-with-two-more-data-centers-to-come — advocacy — 355 million gallons, 29% of city use, fish concerns

³³ Quincy water reuse facility (Basin Business Journal) — https://basinbusinessjournal.com/news/2021/aug/06/quincy-water-reuse-facility-shows-future-water-col/ — center — 2021 cooling demand and sources

³⁴ TSMC water demand sparks questions (KOLD) — https://www.kold.com/2026/08/24/arizonas-chip-footprint-grows-tsmcs-water-demand-sparks-questions/ — center — 4.75 million gallons a day, 65% recycled

³⁵ Desert Hills Fruits water right change form (WA) — https://www.ezview.wa.gov/Portals/_1962/images/WTWG/CG4-31301@1%20Desert%20Hills%20Fruits%20Seasonal%20Change%202024%20WTWG%20Form_.pdf — primary — Benton County orchard right, 202.8 acre-feet; read via search summary

³⁶ Recording and reporting water use (Ecology) — https://ecology.wa.gov/regulations-permits/reporting-requirements/recording-and-reporting-water-use — primary — Annual metering and reporting by water-right holders

³⁷ The Dalles, Google, Oregonian settlement (Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press) — https://www.rcfp.org/dalles-google-oregonian-settlement/ — advocacy — Records timeline, settlement terms, Google trade-secret statement

³⁸ The Dalles settles lawsuit over Google data centers (GovTech) — https://www.govtech.com/analytics/the-dalles-ore-settles-lawsuit-over-google-data-centers — center — 10 years of data released, costs

³⁹ Secrecy shrouds The Dalles water deal with Google (Columbia Insight) — https://columbiainsight.org/secrecy-shrouds-the-dalles-water-deal-with-google/ — center — $28.5 million upgrade, 5-0 vote, water-right transfer

⁴⁰ Microsoft agrees to air-cooled data centers in Goodyear (ABC15) — https://abc15.com/news/business/microsoft-agrees-to-make-data-centers-air-cooled-amid-water-infrastructure-challenges-in-goodyear — center — $36 million toward wastewater plant

⁴¹ Tucson City Council rejects Project Blue (AZ Luminaria) — https://azluminaria.org/2025/08/06/tucson-city-council-rejects-project-blue-amid-intense-community-pressure/ — lean-left — Aug. 6, 2025 vote, nondisclosure agreements

⁴² Tucson rejects Amazon-linked data center (AZFamily) — https://www.azfamily.com/2025/08/09/tucson-rejects-amazon-linked-data-center-amid-water-energy-concerns/ — center — Developer's net-water-positive claim

⁴³ Tucson cuts off water access to Project Blue subcontractor (KOLD) — https://kold.com/2026/05/06/tucson-cuts-off-water-access-project-blue-subcontractor/ — center — About 2 acre-feet used outside service area

⁴⁴ Records raise questions about Georgia's largest data center water use (WTVM) — https://www.wtvm.com/2026/07/13/records-raise-questions-about-georgias-largest-data-center-its-water-use/ — center — Fayette County QTS unmetered lines; read via search summary

⁴⁵ Iowa data center unpermitted wells draw $20K fine (ENR) — https://www.enr.com/articles/61162-750m-iowa-data-centers-unpermitted-wells-draw-20k-fine-against-dewatering-contractor — center — Linn County fine, 40 wells

⁴⁶ Ohio EPA drops general permit for data center wastewater (Farm and Dairy) — https://www.farmanddairy.com/?p=922708 — center — Individual permits after 7,000+ comments

⁴⁷ Quincy plans recycled water for Microsoft (Data Center Knowledge) — https://datacenterknowledge.com/green-materials/quincy-plans-recycled-water-for-microsoft — center — Reuse plant cost and Microsoft funding

⁴⁸ Facebook unveils water projects for Mesa data center (Data Center Frontier) — https://www.datacenterfrontier.com/featured/article/11428015/facebook-unveils-water-projects-to-support-800-million-mesa-data-center — center — 1.79 billion gallons in storage credits

⁴⁹ Google's plan to use 120% less water doesn't quite add up (Gizmodo) — https://gizmodo.com/google-s-plan-to-use-120-less-water-doesn-t-quite-add-1847647300 — lean-left — Critique of replenishment pledges

⁵⁰ Replenishment guide (CEO Water Mandate) — https://ceowatermandate.org/replenishment-guide/ — advocacy — What volumetric water benefit accounting counts

⁵¹ Data center moratorium petition, Richland and West Richland (Change.org) — https://www.change.org/p/demand-an-immediate-data-center-moratorium-in-richland-and-west-richland — advocacy — Resident concerns incl. Hanford plumes; signature count unconfirmed

⁵² Data center equipment tax preference review, 2016 (JLARC) — https://leg.wa.gov/jlarc/taxReports/2016/DataCenterEquipment/f/default.htm — primary — Cost per job, rural definition

⁵³ Sales and use tax exemption for rural data centers expanded (WA Department of Revenue) — https://dor.wa.gov/forms-publications/publications-subject/special-notices/sales-and-use-tax-exemption-rural-data-centers-expanded — primary — Exemption terms; read via search summary

⁵⁴ How WA lawmakers are trying to regulate data centers (Tri-Cities Business News) — https://www.tricitiesbusinessnews.com/articles/how-wa-lawmakers-are-trying-to-regulate-data-centers — center — HB 2515 provisions and opponents

⁵⁵ Wins and highlights from the 2026 Washington session (Earthjustice) — https://earthjustice.org/experts/eric-gonzalez-alfaro/wins-and-highlights-from-the-washington-2026-legislative-session — advocacy — HB 2515 stalled in Senate

⁵⁶ Data center survey (Heatmap) — https://heatmap.news/politics/data-center-survey — center — Aug. 2025 poll, 3,741 voters

⁵⁷ Data center opposition surged from 42 to 75 percent (The Decoder) — https://the-decoder.com/data-center-opposition-surged-from-42-to-75-percent-in-just-one-year-survey-finds/ — unknown — Secondary report of 2026 Heatmap poll

⁵⁸ Gallup poll finds 7 in 10 oppose data centers near homes (Implicator) — https://www.implicator.ai/gallup-poll-finds-7-in-10-americans-oppose-data-centers-near-their-homes/ — unknown — Secondary report of March 2026 Gallup poll

⁵⁹ Google's electricity use grew 37 percent in 2025 (DatacenterDynamics) — https://www.datacenterdynamics.com/en/news/googles-electricity-use-grew-37-percent-in-2025-largest-annual-rise-to-date/ — center — 10.9 billion gallons; read via search summary