GridWatch tracks every operational, under-construction, and proposed data center in the United States — water use, energy demands, and community impacts. Free, forever.
Real-time headlines about data center development, water rights, grid impacts, community opposition, and policy changes — pulled fresh from news sources nationwide.
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GridWatch has no investors, no ads, and no paywalls. We're funded entirely by voluntary donations and research commissions. Every donation goes directly toward expanding data coverage and keeping the platform running.
501(c)(3) status pending · Receipts emailed automatically
Know of a data center not in our system? Submit it.
Tell a journalist, activist, or local politician about us.
Custom state research for orgs, law firms, academics. From $500.
Verifies one new facility against 3+ public data sources
Adds a new county permit database to our monitoring pipeline
Covers one month of map hosting and data API costs
Funds a complete state-level facility audit and public report
Supports a public records (FOIA) request for unreported facilities
Covers a full month of platform operations and research
Initial development self-funded. Not sustainable long-term.
Community of supporters who believe in open infrastructure data.
Custom reports for advocacy orgs and academic researchers.
Applied to Knight Foundation and two other civic tech funders.
Data centers are the invisible infrastructure of the digital economy. They power AI, cloud computing, streaming, and finance — but their physical footprint has profound consequences for local communities, water supplies, power grids, and the environment.
We aggregate data from public permit filings, utility records, EPA reports, SEC disclosures, and investigative journalism, then make it freely available to citizens, journalists, advocates, and policymakers.
US data centers consume ~200 billion kWh per year — ~2% of national electricity — and AI infrastructure may triple that by 2030.
A single hyperscale facility can consume 3–5 million gallons daily, competing with agriculture and municipal needs.
Data centers create 20–80 permanent jobs while straining local infrastructure, utilities, and housing markets.
No federal disclosure requirements exist for data center water or energy. Independent tracking is essential.
Diesel generators, refrigerants, and fossil fuel grid dependency contribute to air quality issues and emissions.
Data centers routinely receive large property tax abatements. GridWatch tracks publicly available incentive data.
Help grow the database. All submissions reviewed within 48 hours. Include a source link wherever possible.