Guides
Data center guides
Straight answers to the questions people ask about data centers, built from government, national-lab and court sources, with every figure cited.
- Guide
What is a data center, and why do we need them?
A plain-English definition of a data center, the difference between cloud, hyperscale and AI data centers, and what they do for everyday online services, with sources.
Read → - Guide
Why are so many data centers being built?
AI, cloud demand, big-tech spending, tax incentives and federal policy: the documented reasons behind the U.S. data center construction boom, with sources for every figure.
Read → - Guide
How many data centers are in the U.S.?
What official and industry sources actually say about the number of U.S. data centers, hyperscale facilities and AI data centers, why the counts differ, and what the Census tracks.
Read → - Guide
How much electricity do data centers use?
U.S. data centers used 4.4% of the nation’s electricity in 2023 and 4.7% in 2024. Official figures, forecasts to 2030, what a single AI campus draws, and grid operator outlooks, with sources.
Read → - Guide
Are data centers bad for the environment?
Emissions, backup diesel generators, gas turbines, land and water: the documented environmental impacts of data centers, the efficiency gains and company pledges, and where evidence is contested.
Read → - Guide
Are data centers loud?
Where data center noise comes from, why the low-frequency hum bothers neighbors, the decibel limits localities have adopted, and what the evidence says, with sources.
Read → - Guide
How much water do data centers use?
U.S. data centers directly used about 17 billion gallons of water in 2023 and far more indirectly through power plants. How cooling uses water, whether data centers recycle it, and published figures project by project.
Read → - Guide
Data center jobs: how many, and what they pay
Jobs promised by tracked projects, federal wage data for the occupations data centers hire, and what state audits found.
Read → - Guide
The largest data center projects in the U.S.
Tracked projects ranked by published capacity, investment and site size.
Read → - Guide
Local data center rules tracker
Noise limits, setbacks, moratoriums and state laws that apply specifically to data centers.
Read →