TL;DR

Data center development needs to be paused until we ensure they do not access general public drinking water & energy requirements.
Projected price hikes in energy bills could be up to 26% where as data centers could consume up to 25% of Sydney's water supply alone by 2035.
They must deploy their own renewable energy alternatives; otherwise, they will worsen the cost of living in alarmingly challenging economic times.

• To the Parliament of Australia and State Regulatory Authorities:
  Australia is experiencing an unprecedented data center boom, driven by AI & cloud computing. If all proposed projects advance, their total maximum demand will exceed 21 Gigawatts; more than 7 times the capacity of Eraring, Australia’s largest coal fired power station.

Major Facilities Under Construction & Planned

Major operators are driving massive hyperscale hubs across the country. Here is the current development pipeline:

1. [S7 Sydney] NextDC | Location: Eastern Creek, NSW | Capacity: 550+ MW | Stage: Planning
2. [MEL2] AirTrunk | Location: NW Melbourne, VIC | Capacity: 354 MW | Stage: Development
3. [S4 Sydney] NextDC | Location: Horsley Park, NSW | Capacity: 350 MW | Stage: Development
4. [M4 Melbourne] NextDC | Location: Port Melbourne, VIC | Capacity: 150 MW (NVIDIA AI factory) | Stage: Planning
5. [IC3 Super West] Macquarie Tech | Location: Macquarie Park, NSW | Capacity: 65 MW | Stage: Under Construction
6. [Mamre Road Facility] Hyperscaler | Location: Western Sydney, NSW | Capacity: 1.2 GW (6 buildings; single largest proposal)

For full project tracking pipelines, view the the Blackridge Research Project List: and the Grokipedia Planned Facilities Tracker:

A Growing Threat to Household Bills & Public Resources

A landmark report by the Climate Council of Australia outlines how this infrastructure boom will financially burden everyday households through electricity and water bills if left unchecked.

Up to 26% Price Hikes: Data center energy demand in Australia’s main grid is forecasted to triple to 12 Terawatt hours (TWh) by 2030 roughly equal to 6% of the entire grid's capacity. If this demand is met using fossil gas & aging coal plants, wholesale electricity prices will spike by an average of more than 20% across Australia by 2035 jumping up to 26% in New South Wales and 23% in Victoria. Because wholesale costs make up roughly 40% of a typical residential bill, these spikes will translate directly into more expensive household monthly utility bills.

Threat to Public Drinking Water Supply: Data center water demand is projected to triple over the next 5 years, jumping from 5.5 Gigalitres (GL) to 17 GL annually. Instead of using recycled alternatives, many facilities rely heavily on municipal networks. Alarmingly, Sydney Water projects that data centers could consume up to 25% of the city's entire public drinking water supply by 2035. Water utilities are already receiving individual connection applications for single sites requesting up to 40 million liters of potable drinking water per day the equivalent of 16 Olympic swimming pools daily.
To read the full data modeling on household electricity spikes and water infrastructure strain, view the Climate Council Policy Report or read the media summary at Melbourne Insider.

We cannot allow billionaire tech giants to outbid everyday citizens for essential resources. We call for an immediate pause on new data center approvals until a strict regulatory framework is established to enforce the following five demands:

• Support additional renewable energy and firming capacity, and restrict use of offsets
• Data center operators must not buy up existing green energy from the public grid or rely on paper-based carbon offsets. They must actively build or fund new renewable generation and energy storage (firming) to cover 100% of their operational needs.
• Maximise energy and water efficiency and avoid drawing on drinking water supplies
• Facilities must utilize closed loop, or waterless cooling technologies. They must be legally restricted from drawing on municipal public drinking water supplies that families rely on.
• Use flexible demand, backed by renewable solutions, to keep our energy system reliable and secure
• Data centers must operate dynamically. They must use behind the meter renewable solutions and battery banks to reduce their power draw during peak grid strain, ensuring the public grid remains secure.
• Pay for the energy and water infrastructure they need
• The cost of upgrading localised electrical substations, transmission lines, and water networks must be paid entirely by the commercial developers. Tech companies must not pass infrastructure bills onto the public tax or tariff base.
• Make current & future water consumption, and energy use and climate pollution transparent
• Mandate full public reporting. Tech companies must transparently publish their exact water consumption, real time energy use, and total carbon emissions so the public can hold them accountable.