{"rewrite":{"id":"r_01b3cf8acd8482c4ec311c7d","clusterId":"c_841aea759ef417780618de08","slug":"redaction-error-exposes-google-s-nebraska-data-center-power-and-water-use","model":"deepseek-v4-1-flash","headline":"Redaction Error Exposes Google's Nebraska Data Center Power And Water Use","summary":"Google asked Nebraska's Department of Water, Energy and Environment to treat power and water usage at three data centers as trade secrets under state law and filed reports with those figures redacted. The redaction could be stripped by copying text into another document. The Lincoln report shows maximum power demand of 52.65 MW and about 13,299,000 gallons of water a year.","whyItMatters":"The error makes public the figures Google argued should stay secret, at a point when Nebraska is weighing water and power demands from its data centers.","webCardHtml":"\u003cp\u003eNebraska requires data centers to file an annual report self-declaring water, electricity and infrastructure impact. Google cited Nebraska Revised Statutes Sections 81-1527 and 84-712.05, plus Title 115, Chapter 2 of the Nebraska Administrative Code, to seek trade secret treatment for power and water usage at all three of its Nebraska sites: Papillion, Omaha and Lincoln.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIt was not the state that released the numbers. The covered text came out when the pages were copied into another document. The Lincoln data center, which began operating in 2026, used about 13,299,000 gallons for cooling towers, evaporation and facility operations, and reported a maximum power demand of 52.65 MW.\u003c/p\u003e","blueskyPost":"Google redacted the figures, not the file. The Nebraska reports still carried the numbers, and copying the text delivered the 52.65 MW and 13,299,000 gallons Google asked the state to treat as trade secrets.","twitterPost":"Google's redaction didn't remove the numbers, only the formatting. Copy the Nebraska filing and the 52.65 MW and 13,299,000 gallons return.","threadsPost":"Google asked Nebraska to keep the Lincoln data center's 52.65 MW and 13,299,000 gallons a year out of public view. The redaction held in the document but not in the text layer, so copying the filing into another document restored every figure the trade-secrets request covered.","newsletterBlurb":"Google sought trade secret treatment for power and water usage at its three Nebraska data centers, citing state statutes and administrative code, and filed reports with the figures blacked out. Copying the redacted text into another document restored it. The Lincoln site's peak power demand was 52.65 MW and its yearly water use was about 13,299,000 gallons.","attributionJson":"[{\"source\":\"GIGAZINE\",\"url\":\"https://gigazine.net/news/20261005-google-data-center-usage/\",\"title\":\"Google's redacted data center water usage and maximum power capacity revealed through copy-paste\"}]","lintFlagsJson":null,"lintHits":0,"costUsd":0,"inputTokens":4658,"outputTokens":583,"status":"published","repairAttempts":0,"nextRepairAt":null,"factsAttemptedAt":1791267732,"createdAt":"2026-10-06T06:20:19.000Z","publishedAt":"2026-10-06T06:21:08.000Z","updatedAt":"2026-10-06T06:21:08.000Z"},"cluster":{"id":"c_841aea759ef417780618de08","canonicalTitle":"Googleが黒塗りで報告したデータセンターの水使用量と最大電力容量がコピペによって明らかに","representativeArticleId":"a_48d04b70cd274bad2855b8b5","sourceCount":1,"writtenSourceCount":1,"writeAttempts":0,"isSolo":true,"entitiesJson":"{\"anime_titles\":[],\"manga_titles\":[],\"work_titles\":[],\"studios\":[],\"people\":[],\"type\":\"news\",\"domain\":\"other\",\"is_roundup\":false}","contentType":"news","status":"published","firstSeenAt":"2026-10-05T11:00:00.000Z","lastSeenAt":"2026-10-05T11:00:00.000Z","updatedAt":"2026-10-06T06:21:06.000Z"},"attribution":[{"source":"GIGAZINE","url":"https://gigazine.net/news/20261005-google-data-center-usage/","title":"Googleが黒塗りで報告したデータセンターの水使用量と最大電力容量がコピペによって明らかに"}],"entities":{"anime_titles":[],"manga_titles":[],"work_titles":[],"studios":[],"people":[],"type":"news","domain":"other","is_roundup":false},"keyFacts":null}