Every instant answer drains the grid.

Every instant answer runs through a data center, and our nonstop demand is draining electricity and water. Everyone else helps pay the bill.

U.S. data centers used 4.4% of the country’s electricity in 2023 and could use as much as 12% by 2028.¹ They consumed about 17 billion gallons of water in 2023, and the largest facilities alone could use up to 33 billion gallons a year by 2028.² On PJM, the power grid that serves 13 states from New Jersey to Illinois, data center demand added $9.3 billion to a single year’s power costs, added to customers’ bills.³ Some analysts argue that part of that spike comes from how PJM’s power-supply auction is designed and from predictions of demand that may not come true, not from data centers alone.⁶