An Assessment of California Data Centers’ Environmental and Public Health Impacts | Next 10

While data centers have long existed in California, the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) has significantly increased demand for new data centers over the last five years, and the pace is expected to increase through the rest of the decade. This explosive growth has led to a corresponding increase in energy demand which has led to increased electricity consumption, carbon emissions, water usage, and public health costs arising from air pollution. A new report, authored by researchers from the University of California, Riverside and produced by Next 10, shows that from 2019 to 2023, health costs from California’s data centers tripled. Projections show that they could rise by another 496% above 2019 and 72% above 2023 levels by 2028 unless strong mitigation policies are enacted. This is the first time the public health impacts from onsite diesel backup generators (which are operated regularly for maintenance and potential demand response beyond actual grid outages) and offsite electricity production have been estimated and compiled alongside other impacts for California data centers. The report finds that between 2019 and 2023, electricity use by California data centers increased by 95%, with projections showing demand could rise as much as 356% above 2019 and 133% above 2023 levels by 2028. At the high end, data centers could consume 25.3 terawatt-hours of electricity annually, equivalent to the annual electricity consumption of 2.4 million average American households. The total water consumption by data centers in California increased from 25.42 billion liters in 2019 to 49.91 billion liters in 2023 — a 96.4% increase, with projections showing demand could rise as much as 358% above 2019 and 133% above 2023 levels by 2028. Carbon emissions from data centers in California almost doubled from 1.24 million short tons in 2019 to 2.38 million in 2023. Data center emissions in the state are projected to span roughly 3.55 to 5.56 million short tons by 2028—an increase of 186% to 348% compared to 2019 and 49% to 133% compared to 2023. The report notes that California’s electric grid is cleaner than most states, using two-thirds clean energy. However, unless urgent steps are taken—including replacing diesel backup generators with alternative fuel sources paired with battery energy storage systems and placing guardrails on the industry—data centers’ contribution to air pollution could threaten the state’s climate and air quality goals. These findings signal a national challenge in the making, as more states race to host this energy- and water-intensive industry. Next 10 and UC Riverside will host a webinar on Tuesday, December 2nd at 11am PT where the authors will discuss the key findings from the report and implications for policy. Register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_cxHYvHJ5QiK3H7j2vMMJeg  Next 10 is not the sole owner of rights to this publication. Usage of this content is subject to permissions, please contact us at info@next10.org for more information.

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