A new report from the nonpartisan research group Next 10, An Assessment of California Data Centers’ Environmental and Public Health Impacts, places context and data at the forefront of that footprint.
The report examines the electricity use of California data centers from 2019 to 2023, finding that it nearly doubled. It also found that water consumption almost doubled, and the public health costs tied to air pollution from data centers more than tripled. The study also projects what those trends could look like by 2028 as AI usage expands – especially in places with heavy data center build-out like Santa Clara County and the Los Angeles region.
The report doesn’t advocate against data centers or AI outright, but it does raise urgent questions about where these facilities are sited, who bears the health and environmental burdens, and what tools the state has to push operators toward cleaner energy, smarter water use and less-polluting backup power.
Black Voice News spoke with Shaolei Ren, Associate Professor at the University of California, Riverside, and Stephanie Leonard, Research Director for Next 10, about their findings and how AI is reshaping California’s energy and water landscape, and what they want residents and policymakers to take away from their work.