Independent public research / Data centers and AI infrastructure
Data centers, AI infrastructure, and community impact—made navigable.
BrooksFlow explains how data centers connect compute to electricity, heat, cooling, water, networks, projects, policy, jobs, and the communities around them. Important claims stay connected to their original evidence, review date, geography, and limits.
What changed
3 meaningful updates
Only changes that materially affect BrooksFlow's current understanding appear here.
Pennsylvania changed its data-center permitting framework
Executive Order 2026-05 created the GRID framework for certain covered projects seeking Commonwealth permits, including local approval, disclosure, and enforceable commitments.
A evidence · regulatory changeThe announced PORTS-Pike project scope changed
A new sponsor disclosure described approximately 8 GW of planned IT capacity, new job projections, community-fund commitments, and a closed-loop air-cooled design intent.
B evidence · updatedThe national 2030 data-center electricity estimate was updated
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory published a 2025 update with a 649 TWh reference case and a wider 521–843 TWh compounded uncertainty range for 2030.
A evidence · new forecastStart with the physical system.
The interactive model above is the visual entrance. These crawlable guides preserve the same explanations as ordinary text and links, so a reader, screen reader, search engine, or browser agent can follow the system without interpreting a canvas.