Gigawatt Ledger · one-page briefing
Campus profile Operating
Central Ohio cluster
AWS · Google · Meta · Microsoft · New Albany / Hilliard / Dublin, Ohio
The resource footprint
Modelled averageIn one day, this campus consumes about
11.750-metre swimming pools
Filled with the volume of water consumed by the campus and its electricity supply.
The actual estimate7,731,674 US gallons consumed
Power-plant water may come from a different watershed. This is a volume comparison, not a claim that households lose this water.
At current operating capacity · Annual model spread evenly over time, not a live meter. Site estimates may differ by roughly ±40%.
Comparison sizes & sources
One pool = 50 × 25 × 2 metres = 2.5 million litres (about 660,430 US gallons). Pool depths vary; this is a defined comparison size.
One home-year = 10,791 kWh, the EIA’s 2022 average US residential electricity purchases. This excludes electricity generated at home and is a fixed US benchmark for all sites.
One car-year = 4.6 tonnes CO₂, the EPA’s typical passenger vehicle tailpipe estimate. The campus model is in CO₂e; the comparison expresses approximate climate scale, not equal mixtures of pollutants.
Monthly values are annual totals ÷ 12; daily values are annual totals ÷ 365. Actual demand varies. Comparisons cover the whole campus, including non-AI uses.
Water: see the numbers and sources
This is water used up, mainly through evaporation. Power-generation water may be used in a different watershed.
- Pressure on local water
- Low-Medium — a regional measure of demand compared with available water
- Where the water comes from
- Municipal potable supply
- Cooling
- Mixed evaporative and closed-loop
- Basis
- Fitted to a published figure of 760 million gallons a year
- Claimed vs observed
- Google's 2025 Ohio campuses alone consumed 1,331 million gallons (New Albany 835.7, Lockbourne 359.5, Lancaster 135.8). That is already more than this cluster row's fitted 760 million, so the cluster figure is a lower bound.
Air: see the numbers and sources
The totals include nitrogen oxides, sulphur dioxide and fine particles. They cover both this site and the power plants supplying it.
- Health range
- $58.4–166 million a year. Lower bound is EASIUR national mid-range; upper is EPA benefit-per-ton at a ~$12M VSL.
- Statistical deaths
- 13.8 a year at that VSL — a national-average conversion from tons, not a local concentration study.
- Equals
- 1,235,817 cars of NOx
- Where it burns
- PJM RFC — Ohio / Penn.
- Generation mix
- Gas 48 · Nuclear 27 · Coal 20
- Diesel backup
- Diesel backup is not yet counted for this campus, so on-site air figures are a floor.
- CO₂e
- 2,029 kt/yr — climate, not air quality
The project, approvals and community concerns
- Who asked for it
- All four major hyperscalers, each with its own campus
- Who approved it
- New Albany's pre-zoned business park; AEP Ohio's contested data center tariff, approved by PUCO in 2025, requires large loads to pay for 85% of subscribed capacity whether or not they use it
- What it serves
- AWS us-east-2, Google and Microsoft cloud regions, Meta app serving
- IT capacity
- 900 MW current capacity / 2,500 MW full-build scenario
The AEP Ohio case is the most-cited regulatory precedent in the US: it established that data centers must post minimum-demand commitments so that other ratepayers aren't left holding the bill for capacity that never materialises.
Keep this guide handy
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Quote or share these estimates
Gigawatt Ledger (2026). Central Ohio cluster: water and air. https://gigawatt-ledger.pages.dev/site/columbusoh/. Modelled from disclosed capacity; site-level error ±40%.
Include the estimate’s date, whether it describes current or proposed capacity, and its uncertainty. Get an embeddable card.
Gigawatt Ledger · September 2026. Water and air figures are estimated from public records and disclosed capacity. How we calculate them · Use this in your community.