A new kind of gold rush is sweeping the West, and this time the prize isn’t minerals but megawatts. From Phoenix to Colorado’s Front Range, data centers are arriving with outsize demands for power and water. In a new report , the regional environmental advocacy group Western Resource Advocates (WRA) warns that without stronger guardrails, the financial and environmental costs could fall on everyday households.

Across Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico and Utah, new data centers are expected to create a surge in resource use, raising consumers’ power bills while jeopardizing climate goals. By 2035, the surge in new data centers could send the Interior West’s electricity demand soaring by about 55 percent , WRA warns.

The unprecedented extent of the industry’s energy requirements ri

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