Every report, and what it is used to prove

Most Americans Loathe Data Centers. Construction Workers Love Them.

Boston Globe staff

News report contrasting broad public opposition to data centers with strong support for the industry among the construction workers who build them.

Who paid: Regional daily newspaper; independent news reporting.

Caveat: A single news snapshot of public opinion and worker sentiment, not a rigorous survey instrument in its own right.

Handbook source 7. Full citation and biography

Statistical Review of World Energy 2026 (data centre electricity table)

Energy Institute with Ember, KPMG and Kearney; data centre figures from S&P Global Energy

The 75th edition of the former BP Statistical Review, and the first to publish a data centre electricity table. It puts US data center use at 312.6 TWh in 2025, up 25.5% from 249.0 TWh in 2024, out of a world total of 787.8 TWh.

• US 312.6 TWh in 2025 (39.7% of world)
• US 249.0 TWh in 2024
• World 787.8 TWh in 2025, up from 658.2 TWh

Who paid: Produced by the Energy Institute, a UK professional body, with industry partners; the data centre series comes from S&P Global Energy, a commercial market-intelligence firm.

Caveat: Its 2024 US figure (249 TWh) is far above Berkeley Lab's (192 TWh), so the series are not interchangeable. The full table sits behind a registration wall; the figures here are as reported by Forbes on August 23, 2026.

Added September 16, 2026 by the daily update.

A State Study Found That Data Center Tax Break Was Virginia's 2nd Best Incentive, Producing $6.10 of Labor Income for Every $1 in Exemptions

Cardinal News staff

Reports a 2026 state incentive evaluation finding Virginia's data center sales tax exemption was the state's second-best incentive, producing $6.10 of labor income for every dollar exempted.

• $6.10 of labor income per exempted dollar
• Ranked Virginia's 2nd-best incentive

Who paid: Nonprofit, nonpartisan newsroom covering Southwest and Southside Virginia; reader and foundation funded.

Caveat: Labor income measures wages generated, mostly during construction, a different question from the 48-cents-on-the-dollar figure measuring actual state treasury return; citing only one framing is cherry-picking.

Handbook source 28. Full citation and biography

United States Data Center Energy Usage Report: 2025 Update

Sarah J. Smith, Alex Hubbard, Alex Newkirk, Mohan Ganeshalingam, Billie Holecek, Dale Sartor, Michael Mills, and Arman Shehabi, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

The federal government's official accounting of how much electricity US data centers use, with a range of projections for 2030. Found data centers used 192 TWh in 2024, about 4.7 percent of US electricity, with a 2030 range of 578 to 782 TWh.

• 192 TWh in 2024 (4.7% of US electricity)
• 649 TWh central estimate for 2030 (11.8%)
• 578-782 TWh full 2030 range (9.5%-15.3%)

Who paid: Federal lab report funded by the US Department of Energy; produces the government's official data center energy estimates.

Caveat: The 2030 estimate is a wide range, 578 to 782 TWh, precisely because a single confident number would not be honest; quoting only the midpoint as a prediction overstates the report's certainty.

Handbook source 1. Full citation and biography

Data center server energy use grows across the commercial building stock

US Energy Information Administration, EIA, Today in Energy

Explains how EIA's Annual Energy Outlook 2026 treats data centers. Estimates servers alone were about 7% of commercial-sector electricity in 2025 and projects server use of 446 to 818 billion kWh by 2050.

• Servers about 7% of commercial-sector electricity in 2025
• 446 to 818 billion kWh of server use by 2050
• 22% to 33% of commercial building electricity by 2050

Who paid: Federal statistical agency.

Caveat: Counts servers only, not cooling or the rest of the building, and the 2025 number is an estimate.

Added September 16, 2026 by the daily update.

Building Trades Unions Emerge as a Key Ally of Tech Giants in Push for AI Data Centers

Boston Globe staff

News report on construction trade unions partnering with technology companies on data center buildout, including union hours and apprenticeship figures.

• Local 26 electricians' union: 28 million hours worked last year, double a decade earlier
• 600 new apprentices in a single year

Who paid: Regional daily newspaper; independent news reporting.

Caveat: Reflects union and industry framing of a genuinely large construction workforce; construction jobs are temporary and end when a given wave of building finishes, a point the anti side presses.

Handbook source 7. Full citation and biography

Understanding the Drivers of Rising Electricity Rates and the Role of Data Centers

Energy and Environmental Economics, Inc. (E3)

Energy consulting firm study finding no measurable evidence to date that other customers are subsidizing data centers, noting the states with the fastest demand growth, Texas and Virginia, had among the smallest price increases, and cataloging at least 38 new regulatory rules for large customers since 2018.

• No measurable evidence to date of ratepayer subsidy of data centers
• At least 38 new rules for large customers 2018-2026, 30 since 2025
• Texas and Virginia: fastest demand growth, among smallest price increases

Who paid: Commissioned and paid for by the Data Center Coalition, the industry's lobbying group, which reviewed the report before publication; E3 states the conclusions are its own.

Caveat: Paid for and reviewed before publication by the Data Center Coalition; the report's own fine print admits only a few studies exist, most show correlation rather than causation, and the risk is not absent.

Handbook source 8. Full citation and biography

Four Reasons New AI Data Centers Won't Overwhelm the Electricity Grid

Robin Gaster, Information Technology and Innovation Foundation

Think tank analysis arguing announced data center projects consistently overstate what actually gets built, citing a more than 40 percent drop in deals in late 2025 and only about a third of announced projects under construction.

• Deals fell more than 40% in late 2025
• Only about a third of announced projects actually under construction

Who paid: Washington think tank that advocates for technology-friendly policy and is supported in part by technology companies.

Caveat: Written by an analyst at a pro-buildout think tank that does not hide its starting position; most useful narrowly for its hard numbers on the gap between announced and built projects.

Handbook source 10. Full citation and biography

Sanders, Ocasio-Cortez Announce AI Data Center Moratorium Act

Office of Senator Bernie Sanders

Press release announcing legislation from Senator Bernie Sanders and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez proposing a national moratorium on AI data center construction.

Who paid: Official congressional press release.

Caveat: A political announcement, not research; the bill is not expected to pass, and the handbook itself warns the anti side not to adopt a total ban as its position since it is easy for opponents to dismiss.

Handbook source 26. Full citation and biography

SCC Data Center Initiatives: Ensuring Data Centers Pay Their Own Costs

Virginia State Corporation Commission

Fact sheet summarizing the SCC's data center cost-allocation initiatives, framed as ensuring large customers pay their own way.

• Restates the 14-year minimum-take contract framework from the November 2025 order

Who paid: Official fact sheet from Virginia's utility regulator.

Caveat: Self-congratulatory framing from the regulator about its own ruling; consumer groups argue it left the transmission-cost question unresolved.

Handbook source 9. Full citation and biography

Data Centers: The Loudoun Story

Loudoun County, Virginia

Official Loudoun County materials describing how data center tax revenue has shaped the county budget, including a decade of property tax rate cuts even as home values rose.

• About $1.2 billion in property tax revenue, FY2026
• About 39% of the county budget
• Property tax rate cut every year, $1.145 to $0.805 per $100 assessed value, 2016-2026

Who paid: Official county government communications, published partly to defend a locally controversial policy.

Caveat: The tax-rate figures are public budget documents and not seriously disputed, but the framing is a government advertising its own policy; critics focus on the risk of 39 percent of a budget depending on one industry rather than disputing the numbers.

Handbook source 4. Full citation and biography

New Evidence on Data Center Employment Effects

Dany Bahar and Greg Wright, Brookings Institution

Compares roughly 1,500 built data center facilities to 52 announced-then-canceled projects, finding computing employment rose 56 percent and telecom employment 43 percent in host counties, translating to roughly 100 to 200 permanent jobs, with home values up 2 to 5 percent.

• Computing employment up 56%, telecom up 43% in host counties
• Roughly 100-200 permanent jobs per county
• Home values up 2-5% over a decade
• Tax incentives = 2% of investment in company-owned facilities vs 62% in rental facilities

Who paid: Independent academic economists, Bahar at Brown University and Brookings, Wright at UC Merced; no stated industry funding.

Caveat: Neither author specializes in data centers, part of why it is trusted as neutral; it measures modest gains, which limits the pro side's jobs claims while giving the anti side its best evidence that subsidies target the wrong buildings.

Handbook source 6. Full citation and biography

Microsoft Says Its Data Centers Use 90% Less Water Than Its Earliest Facilities as Public Concern Grows

GeekWire staff

News report on Microsoft's claim that it cut data center water use roughly 90 percent from its earliest facilities, put back more freshwater than it took in during 2025, and designs its newest facilities to use no water for cooling.

• ~90% water use reduction vs earliest facilities
• Put back more freshwater than consumed in 2025
• Newest designs use no water for cooling in normal operation

Who paid: Technology news outlet reporting on Microsoft's self-reported sustainability claims.

Caveat: These are the company's own, self-reported and unaudited figures; the peer-reviewed water research this responds to exists precisely because company disclosures often count only the water used at the building, not the water used generating the electricity.

Handbook source 14. Full citation and biography

Operating Sustainably

Google

Google's own sustainability page describing its data center environmental commitments, including a pledge to match the no-water-cooling design goal by 2030.

• Committed to a no-water-cooling design goal by 2030

Who paid: Company website; Google reporting on itself.

Caveat: A company reporting on itself with a direct financial interest in how it looks; treat the specific figures as self-reported and unaudited.

Handbook source 14. Full citation and biography

Data Centers Drove $6.3B in PJM Capacity Auction Costs: Market Monitor

Utility Dive staff, reporting Monitoring Analytics findings

Reports the PJM grid's independent market monitor finding data centers responsible for $6.3 billion, 38 percent, of $16.4 billion in charges from one capacity auction, and nearly half of $63.6 billion across the last four auctions.

• $6.3 billion, 38% of $16.4 billion in one auction
• Nearly half of $63.6 billion across the last four auctions

Who paid: Industry news publication reporting findings from Monitoring Analytics, PJM's independent market monitor.

Caveat: The watchdog measures who caused the cost, not how the bill gets split among customer classes; new rules and Virginia's data center customer class govern the latter.

Handbook source 17. Full citation and biography

Why Data Centers Will Be Economic Development Duds

Sean O'Leary, Ohio River Valley Institute

Argues data centers are capital-heavy and labor-light by design, drawing on the fracking boom in Appalachian Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia, where the biggest gas-producing counties posted strong growth statistics while still losing jobs and population.

• Thirty biggest Appalachian gas-producing counties: above-average growth statistics, still lost jobs and population

Who paid: Progressive regional research group founded in 2020, openly opposed to fossil-fuel and heavy-industry-style development; does not claim neutrality.

Caveat: An openly non-neutral advocacy group; its evidence is a historical comparison to natural gas counties, not a direct measurement of data center jobs, which the pro side will press.

Handbook source 19. Full citation and biography

Data Center Subsidies Surge as States Lose Billions

Kasia Tarczynska, Good Jobs First

Documents that Georgia, Texas, Virginia, and Ohio each have data center tax exemptions capable of costing over $1 billion a year, with Ohio's cost jumping from $555 million in 2024 to $1.6 billion in 2025.

• GA, TX, VA, OH exemptions each capable of costing over $1B/year
• Ohio: $555M (2024) to $1.6B (2025), about $330 per household
• Indiana: $655M, over 83% to one company, Amazon
• Texas: $1B in one year
• Oregon: $616M to Amazon, Apple, Alphabet, and Meta

Who paid: Nonprofit founded in 1998, openly opposed to corporate subsidies across both parties and every industry, not funded by the data center industry.

Caveat: The revenue-loss numbers come from states' own legally required financial disclosures, but the analysis counts money given away without fully counting money later collected back.

Handbook source 20. Full citation and biography

Inside Memphis' Fight Against xAI

Southern Environmental Law Center

Account of the fight over xAI's gas turbines in South Memphis, near Boxtown, a mostly Black neighborhood in a county that already fails the federal smog standard, where hundreds of residents opposed the permit and it was issued anyway.

• County already fails federal smog standard; American Lung Association 2025 grade F for ozone
• Hundreds attended the public hearing; every speaker opposed the permit

Who paid: Nonprofit public interest environmental law firm representing the Memphis NAACP chapter in an active air permit dispute.

Caveat: The law firm is a party to an active dispute representing one side, so its characterizations argue that side; the underlying facts, permit terms, turbine count, air-quality grade, are independently checkable.

Handbook source 24. Full citation and biography

NAACP Asks Court for Emergency Action to Stop Illegal Air Pollution from xAI's Data Center Power Plant

Earthjustice

Press release announcing the NAACP's request for emergency court action against alleged illegal air pollution from xAI's Memphis data center power plant, reporting 59 turbines running without permits at a second nearby site.

• 59 turbines reported running without permits at a second site

Who paid: The largest nonprofit environmental law firm in the country, founded in 1971; represents only the side doing the suing.

Caveat: A legal filing and press release by one party in an active case, not a neutral finding or a court ruling; cite it for what is formally alleged and requested.

Handbook source 24. Full citation and biography

Q1 2026 Report

Data Center Watch (10a Labs)

Tracker report finding about 75 projects worth roughly $130 billion blocked or delayed by local opposition in the first three months of 2026 alone, more than matching all of 2025, with opposition groups more than doubling across 49 states.

• About 75 projects, about $130 billion blocked or delayed in Q1 2026
• Opposition groups more than doubled across 49 states
• 14 state legislatures took up pause proposals in three months

Who paid: Run by 10a Labs, a firm whose stated clients are AI companies and large technology firms; does not disclose who funds this specific research.

Caveat: Run by a firm whose clients are AI companies, giving it every incentive to undercount opposition, which makes its own large numbers harder for the industry to dismiss; it does not disclose funding for this specific research.

Handbook source 25. Full citation and biography

Actual, Planned Capital Investments in U.S. Data Centers Soar

Industrial Info Resources

Reports record actual data center construction spending of $44.7 billion in Q1 2026, with a full-year 2026 investment forecast near $700 billion.

• $44.7 billion actual construction spending, Q1 2026
• Full-year 2026 forecast near $700 billion

Who paid: Commercial market intelligence firm that sells construction data to builders, suppliers, and investors; no stated side in the debate.

Caveat: A commercial tracker with no stated side in the debate; both sides use its numbers, the pro side for the denominator showing construction records, the anti side alongside its companion market-risk estimate.

Handbook source 29. Full citation and biography

Data Center Market Update (Q1 2026)

New Market Pitch

Market analysis estimating that 30 to 50 percent of the 2026 data center project pipeline is on track to be delayed or canceled.

• 30-50% of the 2026 pipeline estimated at risk of delay or cancellation

Who paid: Market analysis publication; no dedicated bibliography entry appears in the handbook.

Caveat: A market analysis firm without a dedicated biography in the handbook; its risk estimate is presented alongside Industrial Info Resources' construction-spending figures as the fuller picture.

Handbook source 29. Full citation and biography

United States vs China AI Data Centers (2026)

AI Data Center Index

Tracking site estimating the United States holds roughly three-quarters of the world's AI computing capacity against roughly 15 percent for China.

• US holds about 75% of world AI computing capacity vs about 15% for China

Who paid: Tracking site tallying known AI data center facilities and capacity by country; funding not disclosed in the handbook.

Caveat: A tracking site tallying a fast-moving target; treat exact figures as estimates, though the rough shape is consistent with academic and government estimates.

Handbook source 30. Full citation and biography

China Is Coming for America's AI Edge

American Edge Project

Advocacy piece framing compute capacity as the one pillar of AI strength, alongside energy, talent, and adoption, where America still clearly leads.

• Frames compute as the pillar America still clearly leads, of four: energy, compute, talent, adoption

Who paid: Technology industry advocacy group, openly pro-buildout and funded by tech companies.

Caveat: An openly pro-buildout, tech-industry-funded advocacy group; its framing that compute is the pillar America leads also functions as an admission that everything else, especially the electric grid, is not leading, which cuts both ways.

Handbook source 30. Full citation and biography

The National Security Implications of Building Frontier AI Data Centers Overseas

Brookings Institution

Analysis arguing frontier AI data center facilities need to be built on US soil rather than overseas, for national security reasons.

Who paid: Long-established Washington research organization; no dedicated bibliography entry for this specific article appears in the handbook.

Caveat: No dedicated biography for this specific piece appears in the handbook, unlike Brookings' employment research by a different team; Brookings is generally a well-established, nonpartisan research organization.

Handbook source 30. Full citation and biography

Key Questions on Energy and AI

International Energy Agency, IEA

Update to the IEA's 2025 Energy and AI report. Finds world data center electricity use rose more than 15% to 485 TWh in 2025, with AI-focused facilities up about 50%, and keeps its 2030 base case near 950 TWh.

• 485 TWh world data center electricity in 2025 (about 1.5% of world demand)
• About 415 TWh in 2024
• Base case about 950 TWh by 2030
• US is about half of world installed capacity

Who paid: Intergovernmental agency funded by its member governments.

Caveat: Its world total is far below the Energy Institute's for the same year because the two define and model data centers differently.

Added September 16, 2026 by the daily update.

PJM Capacity Prices Hit Record High as Grid Operator Falls Short of Reliability Target

Utility Dive staff

Reports the standby (capacity) price hitting a record $329.17, later its ceiling of $333.44, with PJM projecting 32 gigawatts of peak demand growth by 2030, all but 2 gigawatts of it from data centers.

• Price rose from $28.92 to $329.17, hit ceiling of $333.44
• PJM expects 32 GW peak demand growth by 2030, all but 2 GW from data centers

Who paid: Industry news publication.

Caveat: A single auction cycle's price data; PJM has also cited other contributing factors such as retiring power plants and market design.

Handbook source 18. Full citation and biography

SCC Issues Order on DEV Biennial Review 2025

Virginia State Corporation Commission

News release announcing the Virginia SCC's order creating a separate customer class for large electricity users over 25 megawatts, requiring fourteen-year minimum-take contracts starting January 1, 2027.

• New customer class for users over 25 MW
• 14-year contracts
• Minimum 85% of wires capacity, 60% of generating capacity paid regardless of use
• Effective January 1, 2027

Who paid: Official regulatory order and news release from Virginia's utility regulator.

Caveat: The referee describing its own ruling; industry says it proves big customers now pay their own way, while consumer and land-conservation groups say the commission ducked who pays for transmission lines, and the protections do not start until January 1, 2027.

Handbook source 9. Full citation and biography

Cloudy Data, Costly Deals: How Poorly States Disclose Data Center Subsidies

Good Jobs First

Report finding that states measuring the return on data center tax breaks lose between 52 and 70 cents on every dollar given away, and that fourteen states with these exemptions publish no annual total at all.

• States that measured lose 52-70 cents per dollar given away
• 14 states publish no annual subsidy total

Who paid: Nonprofit founded in 1998, openly opposed to corporate subsidies; no industry funding.

Caveat: Same advocacy funding and disclosure-based methodology as the companion Good Jobs First article; counts giveaways without fully netting later collections.

Handbook source 20. Full citation and biography

Accelerating Federal Permitting of Data Center Infrastructure

Executive Office of the President, The White House

Executive order directing federal agencies to exempt qualifying data center projects from standard federal environmental review, put them on an accelerated permitting track, and open federal land for construction.

• Exempts qualifying projects from standard federal environmental review

Who paid: Official federal executive order; not an independent study.

Caveat: Anti-side critics target the environmental-review exemption specifically, since that review is where local objections would otherwise be heard.

Handbook source 3. Full citation and biography

Winning the Race: America's AI Action Plan

The White House

Federal policy document treating data center and AI infrastructure buildout as central to the economy and national security, laying out more than ninety actions to speed construction.

• More than 90 actions proposed to speed data center construction

Who paid: Official federal policy document issued by the executive branch; not an independent study.

Caveat: Cite as an authoritative statement of current US policy, not as independent research; its economic assumptions are contested.

Handbook source 2. Full citation and biography

Reports and Publications

Data Center Coalition; Josh Levi (written testimony to Congress)

The data center industry's trade group's hub of reports, plus its president's April 2025 congressional testimony, presenting the industry's preferred jobs and economic-contribution figures and policy positions.

Who paid: Industry trade association and lobbying group; its national economic figures come from studies it paid an accounting firm to produce.

Caveat: This is advocacy, not independent research; its large national figures use a counting method that includes every downstream effect, inflating totals compared with measured studies like Brookings.

Handbook source 5. Full citation and biography

Extracting Profits from the Public: How Utility Ratepayers Are Paying for Big Tech's Power

Eliza Martin and Ari Peskoe, Environmental and Energy Law Program, Harvard Law School

Review of nearly fifty utility regulatory cases concluding that confidentiality rules meant to share the cost of the grid are being used to shield large customer contracts from public scrutiny, allowing costs to be shifted onto ordinary ratepayers.

• Nearly 50 regulatory cases reviewed

Who paid: Academic legal research center at Harvard Law School; no stated industry funding.

Caveat: A process and fairness argument based on legal filings, not a dollar-figure measurement of cost-shifting; the study that did try to measure actual subsidy, E3, found no evidence of it.

Handbook source 16. Full citation and biography

NJBPU Announces Conclusion of New Jersey's Annual Electricity Supply Auction

New Jersey Board of Public Utilities

New Jersey's state utility regulator announcing its own auction results, translating the PJM capacity price spike into roughly 17 to 20 percent residential electricity increases for the year.

• Residential increases of about 17-20% for the year, roughly $25/month on a typical bill

Who paid: Official state regulator news release.

Caveat: New Jersey was among the hardest-hit states, so its 17-20% is the high end of the range; PJM's own gentler estimate for some states is 1.5-5%.

Handbook source 27. Full citation and biography

Hemstreet Presents $4.7B FY 2026 Budget with 'Unprecedented' Data Center Revenues

Loudoun Now staff

Local news report on Loudoun County's proposed $4.7 billion FY2026 budget, describing data center tax revenue as unprecedented.

• $4.7 billion FY2026 county budget

Who paid: Independent local newsroom reporting on the county budget.

Caveat: A local news account of the county's own budget presentation; corroborates but does not independently audit the county's figures.

Handbook source 4. Full citation and biography

Rethinking Load Growth: Assessing the Potential for Integration of Large Flexible Loads in US Power Systems

Tyler H. Norris, Tim Profeta, Dalia Patino-Echeverri, and Adam Cowie-Haskell, Nicholas Institute for Energy, Environment and Sustainability, Duke University

Duke University study finding roughly 100 gigawatts of new demand could be added across grid regions serving about 95 percent of the country using existing infrastructure, if large loads like data centers agree to periodic curtailment at peak hours.

• ~100 GW of new demand addable using existing infrastructure
• Covers grid regions serving about 95% of the US

Who paid: University research; not paid for by industry.

Caveat: The headline number depends entirely on data centers agreeing to curtail at peak times, which most contracts do not currently require; that gap is where critics push.

Handbook source 11. Full citation and biography

Data Centers 'Primary Reason' for High PJM Capacity Prices: Market Monitor

Utility Dive staff, reporting Monitoring Analytics findings

Earlier report of the same market monitor identifying data centers as the primary reason for high PJM capacity auction prices.

Who paid: Industry news publication reporting findings from Monitoring Analytics, PJM's independent market monitor.

Caveat: Same source and limitation as the companion 2026 article: identifies cause, not bill allocation.

Handbook source 17. Full citation and biography

Making AI Less 'Thirsty': Uncovering and Addressing the Secret Water Footprint of AI Models

Pengfei Li, Jianyi Yang, Mohammad A. Islam, and Shaolei Ren, Communications of the ACM

Peer-reviewed paper estimating that training one AI model in Microsoft's US facilities could directly evaporate on the order of 700,000 liters of clean freshwater, and projecting global AI water use at 4.2 to 6.6 billion cubic meters by 2027.

• About 700,000 liters (about 185,000 gallons) evaporated training one model
• Global AI water use projected at 4.2-6.6 billion cubic meters by 2027

Who paid: Peer-reviewed academic research; Ren is a University of California, Riverside professor appointed to a United Nations panel on computing's environmental cost.

Caveat: The authors say plainly that estimates rely on efficiency figures the companies themselves report and on regional averages, so there is real uncertainty in the numbers.

Handbook source 23. Full citation and biography

NAACP, Others Appeal xAI Turbine Permits for Memphis Data Center

Tennessee Lookout staff

News brief on the NAACP and allied groups formally appealing the air permits issued for xAI's Memphis gas turbines.

Who paid: Nonprofit news outlet; independent reporting.

Caveat: A brief news report on a legal appeal; it documents the filing, not the outcome.

Handbook source 24. Full citation and biography

$64 Billion of Data Center Projects Have Been Blocked or Delayed Amid Local Opposition

Data Center Watch (10a Labs)

Earlier tracker report finding $64 billion in data center projects blocked or delayed by local opposition through 2025.

• $64 billion in projects blocked or delayed through 2025

Who paid: Run by 10a Labs, a firm whose stated clients are AI companies and large technology firms; does not disclose who funds this specific research.

Caveat: Same funding structure and limitation as the Q1 2026 report; a firm serving AI industry clients has an incentive to undercount, making its own figures notable.

Handbook source 25. Full citation and biography

PJM Capacity Prices Set Another Record with 22% Jump

Utility Dive staff

News report on a further 22 percent jump in PJM capacity auction prices, part of the multi-year run-up in standby power costs.

• 22% jump in capacity auction prices

Who paid: Industry news publication.

Caveat: A single auction-cycle news report; part of a broader multi-year price trend covered across several Utility Dive articles cited in this handbook.

Handbook source 27. Full citation and biography

Economic Contributions of Data Centers in the United States 2017-2023

PwC, PwC, prepared for the Data Center Coalition

Industry-commissioned study using input-output modeling (IMPLAN) to estimate that the data center industry supports 5.5 million American jobs, with each direct job supporting 4.5 more.

• 5.5 million supported jobs nationally
• Each direct job estimated to support 4.5 more (5.5x multiplier)

Who paid: Commissioned by the Data Center Coalition, the industry's lobbying group.

Caveat: Commissioned by the Data Center Coalition; uses input-output economic modeling that estimates ripple effects rather than counting actual jobs, and reports gross activity rather than net new jobs, unlike the measured Brookings county-level study.

Handbook source 31. Full citation and biography

Data Centers in Virginia

Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission, Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission (JLARC)

The most comprehensive government study of data centers to date, from the state with more of them than anywhere on earth. Found 74,000 jobs, $5.5 billion in wages, and $9.1 billion in annual economic activity, mostly during construction, alongside costs likely to raise electricity prices for all customers and potentially double the state's electricity needs within a decade.

• 74,000 jobs, $5.5 billion in wages, $9.1 billion in annual economic activity
• Benefits mostly during initial construction
• Electricity needs could double within 10 years if demand grows unchecked
• 48 cents returned per dollar of tax exemption given up, 2014-2023

Who paid: Virginia's nonpartisan legislative investigative agency; studies ordered by law, no position to defend. Hired the University of Virginia for the economic analysis and E3 for the electricity modeling.

Caveat: Widely regarded as the most authoritative document in the debate; it genuinely supports both sides, so quote the whole finding, benefits and costs, rather than only the favorable half.

Handbook source 22. Full citation and biography

DCFlex: Data Center Flexible Load Initiative

Electric Power Research Institute

Live, multi-site initiative testing whether data centers can actually reduce power use on command, expanded in 2026 to nine demonstration sites across the US and Europe with participants including major cloud, chip, and utility companies.

• 49 participants
• 9 demonstration sites across the US and Europe
• Participants include Google, Meta, Microsoft, Oracle, NVIDIA, utilities, and grid operators

Who paid: Nonprofit research institute funded mainly by electric utilities; DCFlex's 49 participants include the very companies being tested.

Caveat: Participants include the same companies being tested, so this is a joint engineering effort among interested parties rather than an independent audit.

Handbook source 12. Full citation and biography

Recalibrating Global Data Center Energy-Use Estimates

Eric Masanet, Arman Shehabi, Nuoa Lei, Sarah Smith, and Jonathan Koomey, Science

Peer-reviewed study showing that widely repeated predictions of data center energy use doubling or quadrupling from roughly 2010 to 2018 were wrong, because efficiency gains held global use near flat while computing output grew enormously.

• Global data center electricity use held near 1% of world electricity, 2010-2018, despite enormous growth in computing output

Who paid: Peer-reviewed academic research published in Science; authors include university researchers, an independent analyst, and federal lab scientists.

Caveat: Covers roughly 2010 to 2018; those one-time efficiency gains from consolidating server rooms have largely been spent, and the same authors now publish projections showing steep growth, so it should be used for humility about forecasts, not as a claim that energy use is flat today.

Handbook source 13. Full citation and biography