References

Foxhall, E., Mahajan, A., & Ford, A. (2026, June 8). A data center boom is coming to Texas. See where they're going. The Texas Tribune. https://www.texastribune.org/2026/06/08/texas-regulation-data-centers-electricity-power-water/

Smith, S. J., et al. (2026, June). United States data center energy usage report: 2025 update. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. https://eta-publications.lbl.gov/publications/united-states-data-center-energy-2025

Szczerba, R. J. (2026, July 9). What is a data center and why are they suddenly everywhere? Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/technology/article/what-is-a-data-center/

U.S. Department of Energy. (n.d.). Powering America's AI future—Data center resource hub. https://www.energy.gov/powering-americas-ai-future-data-center-resource-hub

U.S. Department of Energy. (2019, January 9). Cooling water efficiency opportunities for federal data centers. https://www.energy.gov/cmei/femp/cooling-water-efficiency-opportunities-federal-data-centers

U.S. Department of Energy. (2026, July 29). Energy Department announces partnership to expand reliable, affordable energy access and power America's AI future in Western Kentucky. https://www.energy.gov/articles/energy-department-announces-partnership-expand-reliable-affordable-energy-access-and-power

U.S. News & World Report. (2026, May 1). The $25 billion bill: The hidden environmental cost of America's data center boom. https://www.usnews.com/news/national-news/articles/2026-05-01/the-25-billion-bill-the-hidden-environmental-cost-of-americas-data-center-boom

Walker, C. D., & Goldsmith, I. (2026, February 17). From energy use to air quality, the many ways data centers affect US communities. World Resources Institute. https://www.wri.org/insights/us-data-center-growth-impacts

Visual Credit: Texas data-center map supplied in Heather A. Guajardo's research draft; originally from Foxhall, Mahajan, and Ford (2026), The Texas Tribune.