Most European Data Centers Do Not Publicly Disclose Water and Electricity Use

A new investigation by Lighthouse Reports says most European data centers do not make their environmental impact clear to the public, despite EU rules intended to improve transparency in energy and water reporting.

The data covered by those rules includes water and energy consumption, renewable energy use, waste-heat use and cooling efficiency. Lighthouse Reports says that although operators may report the information to governments, members of the public can have difficulty accessing it. The group also criticizes the EU for publishing efficiency labels instead of raw data.

In the Netherlands, 44 of the 186 data centers operating at 500 kW or more by late 2025 publicly provided electricity consumption figures, while 47 provided water consumption figures. Lighthouse Reports describes the Netherlands as among the more transparent countries. The group says information requests across all 27 EU member states were often denied because authorities lacked the information or considered it confidential.

Lighthouse Reports has filed a complaint under the Aarhus Convention, arguing that the EU is breaching its guarantees on access to environmental information, public participation in decision-making and access to justice. TechRadar Pro says it asked the European Commission for comment but had not received an immediate response.