Investors are demanding that large IT companies disclose data on water consumption and energy costs of their data centers that support artificial intelligence.

Investor demands for transparency in water and energy consumption of data centers

Ahead of the annual shareholders’ meetings, more than ten major investors have requested detailed disclosure of water usage and energy costs at Amazon, Microsoft, and Google (Alphabet) data centers in the United States. This mounting pressure stems from growing market concern over how much resource is spent to support artificial‑intelligence infrastructure.

Why investors are demanding transparency
* Shareholder reaction – after all three companies faced local community protests and were forced to cancel several multi‑billion projects, interest in their environmental reporting has intensified.

* Negative figures – according to research firm Mordor Intelligence, North American data centers consumed almost one trillion liters of water in 2025.

Water as a key resource for AI data centers
* Some estimates suggest that generating 100 words with GPT‑4 is equivalent to the consumption of three bottles of water.

* Another study found that AI data centers use more water annually than all people worldwide drink bottled water combined.

Although major cloud providers have implemented closed‑loop cooling systems, most water consumption remains indirectly tied.

* A 2024 study revealed that data centers indirectly used about 800 billion liters of water in the process of generating the electricity required for their operations.

* As Tom’s Hardware notes, the overwhelming share of consumption occurs outside the facilities themselves.

What investors want
Investors are demanding detailed reports for each site to more accurately assess operational risks and impacts on local ecosystems. They believe current disclosure levels about data center impacts are insufficient.

Company responses
* Calvert Research and Management – analyst Jason Qi emphasized the need for more detailed reporting on real community impact.

* Amazon – infrastructure director Josh Weissman told Reuters that the company “is increasingly disclosing data by specific sites” in an effort to be a good neighbor.

* Microsoft – representatives stated that environmental sustainability is their core value.

* Google – declined to comment.

* Meta – did not respond to Reuters’ request.

Thus, investors expect cloud giants to provide more open and concrete information about how much water and energy they consume so they can better understand environmental risks and impacts on local communities.