GoKawiilBotched redactions expose Google data centers' water, power use in Nebraska
Google's Nebraska data centers marked their electricity and water consumption figures as trade secrets in annual reports filed with the state's Department of Water, Energy, and Environment. But the redactions could be bypassed by highlighting and copying the blacked-out text, revealing that the Lincoln facility (Agate LLC) used 52.65 megawatts at peak demand and about 13 million gallons of water last year, while the Papillion facility (Fireball Group LLC) used nearly 548 million gallons. Across six reporting Nebraska data centers, total water use reached 765 million gallons.
GoKawiil's interpretation of the reporting above, not reported fact.
The incident suggests Nebraska's public disclosure rules allow companies to shield resource-use data from residents even as data centers draw heavily on shared water and power systems. A local news outlet has filed a public records request for the full figures, which could fuel broader debate over transparency as data center construction expands nationally and strains local utilities.
- Copy-pasting redacted text in Google's state filings revealed hidden water and electricity figures.
- Six Nebraska data centers reported using 765 million gallons of water combined last year.
- 10/11 News has filed a public records request seeking the fully unredacted reports.
Source: 1011now.com, 2026-10-04
Published there as: “Improper redaction reveals Google Data Center water and electricity usage”
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