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A data center is a building that houses computers and the electrical and mechanical plant required to keep them on and cool. White space is the IT hall. Gray space is switchgear, UPS, generators, and cooling. PUE is total facility energy divided by IT energy. WUE is site water (liters) divided by IT energy (kWh).
Liquid cooling at the chip is not the same as evaporative heat rejection. SAWS has said existing data centers used about 0.1% of drinking water and that 75% of data-center water in 2025 was recycled. Site-level gallons after smart meters are not public under Texas Government Code §552.1331.
CPS Energy told the city it served 21 data centers generating about $110 million in contract revenue, with 59 projects in planning — not all expected to be built. Peak-demand growth was revised to 260 MW/year. Whether residential rates move depends on tariffs, generation, and who pays for upgrades. Do not print a household dollar impact without a rate case.
U.S. average PUE ~1.4 and WUE ~0.36–0.38 L/kWh in 2023 (LBNL). Averages hide architecture. Microsoft’s FY25 global WUE was 0.27 L/kWh (0.34 Americas) — fleet, not a San Antonio meter.
Count construction (temporary) separately from operations (small specialized crew). Industry benchmarks often sit near 0.15–0.5 permanent FTE per MW at hyperscale, higher at small colo.
West Bexar / Texas Research Park / Medina County is the geography. Named operators in public reporting include Microsoft, CyrusOne, Stream, Vantage, CloudHQ, and Amazon. Announced MW is not operating MW. ERCOT’s large-load queue is requested interconnection, mostly data centers, and is not a buildout forecast.
CPS-served data centers (briefing): 21
CPS Energy told the city it was providing power to 21 data centers, with those contracts generating about $110 million in revenue.
San Antonio has over 20 data centers and more on the wayReported contract revenue: $110 million
Revenue figure attributed to CPS at the March 2026 briefing. Not a profit figure and not a residential-rate formula.
San Antonio has over 20 data centers and more on the wayProjects in planning (CPS): 59
CPS described 59 future projects in various stages. Officials said not all will be built. Requested MW is not operating MW.
San Antonio has over 20 data centers and more on the wayShare of SAWS drinking water: ~0.1%
SAWS: data centers used around 0.1% of drinking water at the time of the briefing.
San Antonio has over 20 data centers and more on the wayData-center water that was recycled: 75% in 2025
Up from 48% in 2023, per SAWS. That is a mix shift, not a gallons-at-the-meter disclosure.
San Antonio has over 20 data centers and more on the wayNew requests (planning): ~600 AF potable + ~3,000 AF recycled
SAWS said new data centers were planning to request about 600 acre-feet of drinking water and 3,000 acre-feet of recycled water. An acre-foot is roughly three San Antonio houses for a year in the briefing's analogy.
San Antonio has over 20 data centers and more on the wayRecycled-system headroom: ~10,000 AF
System can move around 30,000 AF; about 20,000 AF was provided; about 10,000 AF of additional capacity before upgrades. Other large recycled users (including power-plant cooling) compete for the same pipe.
San Antonio has over 20 data centers and more on the wayShare of recycled-water sales: 1.25% now → ~12% if contracted projects connect
Express-News citing SAWS in April 2026. That is a sales-share projection, not a river.
SAWS expected to vote on raising water rates in MayCPS peak-demand growth forecast: 260 MW / year
More than double the 115 MW originally forecast, per CPS figures reported by Axios in May 2026. Data centers are one driver; population is another.
CPS Energy eyes more natural gas as electricity demand soarsResidential comparison rate: 12.9 ¢/kWh
CPS board book: Texas/local residential bill comparison, trailing twelve months ending January 2026, at 1,000 kWh. A June 2026 board discussion cited a $191.77 average monthly bill — a different method. Neither is a data-center tariff.
CPS Energy Board of Trustees board bookERCOT all-time peak: 85,508 MW
Recorded 10 August 2023. Later summers have been forecast higher. A forecast is not a record.
ERCOT’s New Batch Connection Process for Large Electricity UsersERCOT 'large user': > 75 MW at a single site
ERCOT: that amount can power 18,750 homes during peak hours — a peak-rate analogy, not an annual-energy analogy.
ERCOT’s New Batch Connection Process for Large Electricity UsersLarge-load queue (mid-2026): > 438 GW requested
Nearly 90% described as data centers. Queue ≠ buildout. ERCOT created a batch study process because the list outran the grid.
ERCOT’s New Batch Connection Process for Large Electricity UsersU.S. data-center electricity, 2023: 176 TWh (~4.4% of U.S. electricity)
LBNL 2024 report. 2028 is a scenario band (roughly 325–580 TWh), not a single number.
2024 United States Data Center Energy Usage ReportU.S. average PUE, 2023: ~1.4
Down from ~1.6 in 2014, largely because more servers sit in large, efficient halls. Averages hide the worst and best rooms.
LBNL 2024 PUE and WUE aggregatesU.S. average WUE, 2023: ~0.36–0.38 L/kWh
Average of a mixed fleet. A tower plant and a dry plant should not be asked to share this number.
LBNL 2024 PUE and WUE aggregatesMicrosoft global PUE / WUE (FY25): PUE 1.17 · WUE 0.27 L/kWh
Americas WUE 0.34. Company-owned, 12-month operational set. Not a San Antonio site meter.
Measuring energy and water efficiency for Microsoft datacentersBexar County facilities (press tally): 30+ built, 23+ more reported on the way
San Antonio Report citing Texas Tribune research, August 2026. Definitions of 'data center' differ across maps (colo vs enterprise vs telecom).
Bexar County is home to at least 30 data centers and countingSite-level water records: Not public after smart meters
KSAT: SAWS withheld account-level use under Texas Government Code §552.1331. The bill's author has said that was not the intent for corporations. The AG's office has applied it to commercial accounts.
Texas law shields San Antonio-area data center water usage from public recordsCommunity survey respondents (organizer-reported): 1,000+
San Antonio Data Centers Community Survey, District 3 office with Texas A&M. Open opt-in. Not a certified census of the city.
San Antonio Data Centers Community SurveyShare of survey respondents opposing (organizer-reported): ~80%
Percentage of respondents, not of all San Antonio residents. Full crosstabs not released. Preliminary.
San Antonio Data Centers Community SurveyCity Council, 25 Aug 2026: Moratorium discussed, not adopted
Special session on zoning/UDC and a possible pause on new applications. Staff recommended code amendments; Mayor Jones asked for a staff update in October. At least 12 projects already in utility negotiations would be exempt from a pause, per Development Services.
San Antonio City Council considers temporary pause on new data centersCPS large-load requests (funnel): 59 projects · 26,146 MW
CPS Energy CAC deck, as of 12 Jan 2026. Includes speculative, feasibility, agreement, and contracted. Requested MW is not operating MW.
Managing Large Load Growth Responsibly (CAC informational update)CPS large-load contracted: 335 MW
Same deck. Contrast with 26,146 MW requested. The funnel is the civic object; the meter is a different object.
Managing Large Load Growth Responsibly (CAC informational update)CPS forecasted large-load growth: ~630 MW in 5 years · ~1,500 MW in 10 years
CPS planning forecast, not the interconnection queue. A forecast can be true while a 26 GW request list is also true.
Managing Large Load Growth Responsibly (CAC informational update)Two named facilities, two years (secondary): 463 million gallons (2023–2024 combined)
San Antonio Current, citing SAWS figures via a magazine: Microsoft and U.S. Army Corps facilities combined, over two years. Not the city’s whole fleet. Not a single year. Limited confidence.
San Antonio data centers guzzled 463 million gallons of water as area faced droughtData last checked 2026-09-04 · Current public data is a snapshot, not a live meter
Show me the receipts