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Investors Push Big Tech to Reveal Site-Level Water and Power Use at U.S. Data Centers

Shareholders say site-level data is needed to judge local water and power risks from AI-fueled data center growth.

A car drives past a building of the Digital Realty Data Center in Ashburn, Virginia, U.S., March 17, 2025. REUTERS/Leah Millis

Overview

  • More than a dozen investor groups are filing or preparing resolutions that demand site-by-site water and energy data from Amazon, Microsoft, and Google before spring shareholder votes.
  • The campaign follows community protests that prompted each company to cancel multibillion-dollar data center projects, and industry leaders now stress early, clear talks with residents about resource needs.
  • Investors cite uneven disclosures that hide local impacts, noting Meta reports only owned sites, Google excludes third‑party operated facilities, and Amazon and Microsoft do not break out site-level use.
  • Amazon says it is increasingly posting site-specific water data and investing to cut use, with Microsoft calling sustainability a core value and Google declining comment.
  • Green Century says it is in talks with Nvidia on an AI-and-climate resolution, and market research estimates North American data centers used about 1 trillion liters of water in 2025.