The questions people actually ask
- Are there already data centers here?
- Yes. CPS Energy told the city it was powering 21 of them in March 2026. Fifty-nine more have asked for power. Only 335 MW is signed. Asking is not building.
- Will my electric bill go up?
- Maybe, maybe not. It depends who pays for new power lines and plants. CPS has said existing contracts are written to recover costs. That is not a promise about every future project. A company asking for power is not using it yet.
- Will my water bill go up?
- SAWS says today's data centers use about 0.1% of drinking water, and 75% of their 2025 water was recycled. Future requests are larger. A cooling tower turns water into steam. A dry cooler mostly uses fans. Site-by-site gallons are not public.
- Did 80% of the city say no?
- No. About 80% of people who filled out an opt-in survey said they opposed. That is a share of respondents, not a share of San Antonio. Full results have not been released.
- What don't we know yet?
- For many proposals: how they cool, where the water comes from, who pays for new wires, how loud it will be, and what the city gets in return.
- Is a pause already the law?
- No. City Council discussed a possible pause on 25 August 2026. It was not adopted that day. Staff were asked to come back with code updates.
A request for power is not a running building.
The news often treats the waiting list as destiny
CPS Energy's March 2026 large-load deck listed 59 projects and 26,146 MW of requests as of 12 January 2026. Contracted load in that same funnel: 335 MW. CPS's own planning forecast for large-load growth is about 630 MW in five years. Those three numbers can all be true. Treating the request list as destiny is how arguments go wrong.
The same deck: about $110 million in non-fuel revenue from about 21 data-center customers. Peak-demand growth was revised from 115 MW/year to 260 MW/year. MW is how wide the pipe is. MWh is how much passed through it.
Drinking water and recycled water are not the same pipe.
Today's use is small. Future requests are larger. Site meters are not public.
SAWS says today's data centers are about 0.1% of drinking water, and that 75% of data-center water in 2025 was recycled. New requests in the briefing were about 600 acre-feet potable and 3,000 acre-feet recycled. Recycled-system headroom was described as about 10,000 acre-feet before upgrades — with other large users already on that system.
A 2025 Current article, citing SAWS figures via a magazine, reported two named facilities (Microsoft and the Army Corps) used a combined 463 million gallons across 2023 and 2024 — two sites, two years, not the fleet, not one year. Site-level gallons after smart meters are otherwise not a public record.
FactHigh confidence
21
CPS-served data centers (briefing)
CPS Energy told the city it was providing power to 21 data centers, with those contracts generating about $110 million in revenue.
San Antonio Report
FactHigh confidence
$110 million
Reported contract revenue
Revenue figure attributed to CPS at the March 2026 briefing. Not a profit figure and not a residential-rate formula.
San Antonio Report
FactHigh confidence
~0.1%
Share of SAWS drinking water
SAWS: data centers used around 0.1% of drinking water at the time of the briefing.
San Antonio Report
FactHigh confidence
75% in 2025
Data-center water that was recycled
Up from 48% in 2023, per SAWS. That is a mix shift, not a gallons-at-the-meter disclosure.
San Antonio Report
EstimateMedium confidence
~600 AF potable + ~3,000 AF recycled
New requests (planning)
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 Report
EstimateHigh confidence
260 MW / year
CPS peak-demand growth forecast
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.
Axios San Antonio
FactHigh confidence
> 438 GW requested
Large-load queue (mid-2026)
Nearly 90% described as data centers. Queue ≠ buildout. ERCOT created a batch study process because the list outran the grid.
ERCOT
FactHigh confidence
Not public after smart meters
Site-level water records
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.
KSAT Investigates
EstimateLimited public data
~80%
Share of survey respondents opposing (organizer-reported)
Percentage of respondents, not of all San Antonio residents. Full crosstabs not released. Preliminary.
Office of Councilwoman Phyllis Viagran, District 3, in partnership with Dr. Bassel Daher, Texas A&M University
FactHigh confidence
Moratorium discussed, not adopted
City Council, 25 Aug 2026
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.
KSAT
FactHigh confidence
59 projects · 26,146 MW
CPS large-load requests (funnel)
CPS Energy CAC deck, as of 12 Jan 2026. Includes speculative, feasibility, agreement, and contracted. Requested MW is not operating MW.
CPS Energy
FactHigh confidence
335 MW
CPS large-load contracted
Same deck. Contrast with 26,146 MW requested. The funnel is the civic object; the meter is a different object.
CPS Energy
EstimateHigh confidence
~630 MW in 5 years · ~1,500 MW in 10 years
CPS forecasted large-load growth
CPS planning forecast, not the interconnection queue. A forecast can be true while a 26 GW request list is also true.
CPS Energy
EstimateLimited public data
463 million gallons (2023–2024 combined)
Two named facilities, two years (secondary)
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 Current
Funnel from Managing Large Load Growth Responsibly (CAC informational update). Queue figures from ERCOT’s New Batch Connection Process for Large Electricity Users. Live meters are not in this app because they are not public.
