THE CLOUD HAS A WATER BILL. AND AN ELECTRIC BILL.

JUSTICE · ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE

Published by | Langhorne P. Breedlove

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2026 · 1:27 AM ET

Tags: Data Centers · Electricity · Water · Grid Planning · Ratepayers · Environmental Accountability

Dear fellow American proletariat: We were told our files live in the cloud. Lovely image. Very poetic. Somewhere behind it is a warehouse full of computers, industrial cooling equipment, substations, backup power, water pipes and a developer asking the electric utility how quickly it can supply the equivalent of a small city's demand. The cloud, it turns out, has a remarkably terrestrial appetite.

American Proletariat proposes transparent, enforceable planning for large data centers and other extraordinary electricity loads. The policy would require serious accounting of power demand, water withdrawal and consumption, grid reliability, environmental consequences and who pays for the necessary infrastructure. It is not a categorical prohibition on computing, artificial intelligence or useful technological development. It is a demand that private growth be evaluated against public costs.

THE MANDATE

Require covered large-load developments to provide independently reviewable projections of peak megawatts, expected annual megawatt-hours, water withdrawals and consumption, cooling systems, backup generation, required power plants and transmission, construction and operating jobs, and projected effects on residential and small-business utility customers. Approval would depend on applicable federal, state and local law, not one invented national permitting office.

Adopt a clear cost-allocation principle: a large customer should pay the just and reasonable incremental costs attributable to serving its load, rather than quietly shift those costs onto existing households. Require adequate financial security against abandoned projects, enforceable water reporting and public review of local environmental impacts, while protecting genuine cybersecurity and trade secrets.

ROOTS & HISTORY

Data centers are not new, but their size and functions have changed. Earlier enterprise server rooms gave way to increasingly large colocation and cloud facilities, and artificial-intelligence computation has intensified demand for high-performance hardware and cooling. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory estimated that U.S. data centers consumed approximately 176 terawatt-hours in 2023, about 4.4% of national electricity use. Its earlier 2024 report projected a range of 6.7%–12.0% by 2028 under different scenarios. (Source 01)

The laboratory's June 2026 update projected data centers could represent 9.5%–15.3% of U.S. electricity use in 2030, with an 11.8% central estimate. Those are modeled projections, not meters reading a future year. They depend on server shipments, efficiency, utilization, cooling configurations and the rest of the country's energy demand. The 2030 projections supersede rather than simply add to the earlier 2028 scenarios. (Source 02)

Historically, grid planning was designed around forecasts of residential, industrial and commercial demand, utility obligations and regulated recovery of infrastructure costs. A single new load seeking hundreds of megawatts presents a different planning risk from ordinary neighborhood growth. If the customer abandons a project after capacity is built, someone still owes the utility for the equipment.

TODAY · THE NUMBERS BEHIND THE SERVERS

A Congressional Research Service report updated May 12, 2026 described the variety of data-center types and explained that much of their electrical demand comes directly from information-technology equipment, while cooling is a major additional load. The report also identified questions about electricity pricing, water use, efficiency standards and the relationship between large facilities and grid development. The environmental effect of a particular center depends on its location and operating design; there is no honest national one-size-fits-all footprint. (Source 03)

Water accounting requires particular care. Some facilities rely on evaporative cooling, some on air-cooled or liquid-cooled systems, and different approaches shift the balance between direct water consumption and electricity use. The Congressional Research Service noted in July 2026 that water withdrawal, water consumption and discharge are distinct measurements, and local water availability matters more than an isolated nationwide total. (Source 04)

The regulatory questions are not hypothetical. On June 18, 2026, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission issued six show-cause orders directing regional transmission organizations and independent system operators to justify or revise tariffs governing large-load connections. The proceedings address issues including access, cost transparency and protection of customers already served by the grid. They are regulatory proceedings, not proof that every proposed data center has already received approval. (Source 05)

Utah provides an unusually concrete example. Its 2025 S.B. 132 established rules intended to make large-load customers bear just and reasonable incremental electricity-service costs, including certain generation, distribution and transmission investments. Existing ratepayers were not supposed to be charged for costs properly attributable to an individual large-load request. (Source 06)

Utah's H.B. 76, signed March 26, 2026 and effective July 1, requires certain new data centers exceeding 10,000 square feet and planning to withdraw at least 75 acre-feet of water annually to report anticipated and actual withdrawals. The state exempts facilities operating or under construction before that date. Reporting is useful, but it is not a statewide water-use cap. (Source 07)

Utah's H.B. 507 additionally restricted incentives from political subdivisions for certain large-load data centers, subject to exceptions for designated development zones. The existence of these laws demonstrates that states are already distinguishing a large computing campus from a neighborhood office building—and debating who bears its public costs. (Source 08)

THE LEGAL PATH

Congress may create national reporting and energy-efficiency requirements within its constitutional powers, fund grid research and amend environmental or interstate-commerce statutes. FERC regulates relevant wholesale electricity and transmission matters under the Federal Power Act; state public utility commissions and utilities oversee important retail and distribution decisions; local governments often control zoning and land use. Federal authority is not unlimited, and a FERC proceeding does not erase a state water right.

Existing clean-water, air-quality, environmental-review and public utility laws may apply depending on facility design, location, source of power, discharge and permitting. Tribal sovereignty and treaty-reserved water rights require separate consideration. A credible AP law would identify the responsible agency for each requirement rather than announce one sweeping federal permit that pretends all other jurisdictions have disappeared.

THE PLAN · TRANSPARENCY BEFORE TAX BREAKS

01 · REVEAL THE REAL LOAD

Require standardized public disclosures of planned peak demand, modeled annual electricity use, expected growth, generation requirements, grid upgrades, backup power and the treatment of abandoned reservations. Use staged studies and independent verification to avoid double-counting speculative projects that appear in multiple utility queues. Keep proprietary security details protected without shielding basic resource totals.

02 · MAKE THE CUSTOMER PAY ITS SHARE

Require transparent large-load tariffs, deposits, minimum contract terms and reimbursement obligations for dedicated infrastructure, to the extent authorized by the relevant regulator. Review cost allocation when shared grid infrastructure benefits multiple customers; not every project cost belongs entirely to one data center, and not every upgrade is legitimately socialized across a region.

03 · COUNT EVERY DROP

Disclose annual withdrawals, water actually consumed, discharged water, source and basin, drought contingencies and proposed cooling technology. Require review of water-rights availability and effects on other users. In water-stressed regions, compare recycled-water, dry-cooling and hybrid choices, including their energy tradeoffs, rather than mandate one technology irrespective of climate and facility need.

04 · TEST THE GRID & AIR

Require credible reliability assessments covering transmission congestion, backup generation, peak-load response and emergency curtailment. Evaluate proposed power plants and diesel backup emissions through applicable law. Encourage documented demand flexibility, storage and lower-impact supply where practical; do not count unbuilt generation as if its electricity were already flowing.

05 · PUT THE PUBLIC AT THE TABLE

Before granting major tax incentives or utility contracts, publish expected capital obligations, public subsidies, long-term jobs, water effects and alternatives. Offer accessible hearings, independent analysis and clear avenues for local and Tribal participation. A development agreement should not be a private document whose most important public feature is the groundbreaking photograph.

THE TEN-YEAR LEDGER

The fiscal baseline begins with current utility-rate obligations, existing public investments, applicable tax incentives and enacted reporting requirements. The public ledger must separate private construction costs from taxpayer spending, utility-regulated investments from government appropriations, and customer-paid grid improvements from costs shifted to other ratepayers.

For year one, model legal and administrative setup, reporting systems, independent grid and water studies, public hearings, monitoring and enforcement. For each of ten years, estimate regulatory and utility oversight costs, infrastructure built, stranded-asset risk, ratepayer impacts, tax concessions, measured water use, air-quality compliance, financing, and changes in employment or tax receipts supported by evidence.

Use at least three scenarios: continued development under existing rules; stronger disclosures and full incremental-cost recovery; and more restrictive siting or water conditions where a basin cannot sustainably support the load. A rejected project does not automatically save the Treasury its full construction price, and a promised corporate investment does not automatically translate into equal public benefit.

AP cannot responsibly publish a first-year net cost or ten-year national fiscal balance until it defines a covered-facility threshold, participating jurisdictions, required studies, enforcement personnel and the financing share borne by developers. Forecasted electricity loads and water use must be presented as ranges with documented assumptions. A forecast is not a receipt.

WHAT COULD GO WRONG?

Strict disclosure can reveal sensitive commercial information or create paperwork smaller facilities cannot afford. Excessive delays may push investment to places with weaker safeguards, while inflexible water rules could favor one cooling technology even when another produces lower overall environmental harm. Poorly structured deposits could make useful grid development unnecessarily expensive.

Critics of restrictions point to economic development, computing services, technological innovation and potential new generation investment. Critics of rapid expansion point to water competition, grid congestion, emissions, high utility bills and subsidies that may not deliver promised jobs. Both sides must distinguish national modeling from local impacts and permanent jobs from temporary construction work.

A blanket moratorium might be justified in a specific constrained basin under particular legal findings, but it is not the same as a nationwide evidence-based standard. Likewise, a data center's commitment to buy renewable-energy certificates does not by itself prove the grid serving it has no additional emissions at the hours it operates.

MEASURING SUCCESS

Publish actual annual electricity use and peak loads, forecast accuracy, incremental grid costs recovered from developers, household rate impacts, verified power-plant and transmission additions, water withdrawals and consumption by basin, emergency curtailments, emissions, construction and permanent employment, public tax expenditures, compliance and abandoned-project liabilities. Compare projects against approved forecasts and make corrections visible.

The digital economy can grow without treating physical geography as an inconvenience. A server needs electricity, a cooling system may need water, and the people living near both deserve a say in the bill. The cloud can float in our imaginations. Its infrastructure must stand on the ground—and answer to the public.

SOURCES & FURTHER READING

01 · Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory — 2024 United States Data Center Energy Usage Report, December 19, 2024. https://eta.lbl.gov/publications/2024-lbnl-data-center-energy-usage-report

02 · Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory — United States Data Center Energy Usage Report: 2025 Update, published June 2026. https://eta-publications.lbl.gov/publications/united-states-data-center-energy-2025

03 · Congressional Research Service — Data Centers and Their Energy Consumption: Frequently Asked Questions, R48646, updated May 12, 2026. https://www.everycrsreport.com/reports/R48646.html

04 · Congressional Research Service — Data Centers and Water: Frequently Asked Questions, R49057, July 31, 2026. https://www.everycrsreport.com/reports/R49057.html

05 · Federal Energy Regulatory Commission — FERC Launches Targeted Action to Speed Large Load Integration, June 18, 2026. https://ferc.gov/news-events/news/ferc-launches-aggressive-targeted-action-speed-large-load-integration

06 · Utah State Legislature — S.B. 132, Large-Scale Electric Service Requirements, 2025 enrolled legislation. https://le.utah.gov/Session/2025/bills/enrolled/SB0132.pdf

07 · Utah Division of Water Rights — Large Data Center Water Use Reporting, H.B. 76 effective July 1, 2026. https://waterrights.utah.gov/data-centers/

08 · Utah State Legislature — H.B. 507, State Coordination of Regional and Local Economic Development Projects Amendments, 2026. https://le.utah.gov/Session/2026/bills/enrolled/HB0507.pdf

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WE ARE ONE.  ·  E PLURIBUS UNUM.