Freshwater Use by U.S. Power Plants: Electricity’s Thirst for a Precious Resource

The document details the construction of the EW3 database, which integrates 2008 Energy Information Administration (EIA) data with NREL and Argonne National Laboratory water coefficients to estimate freshwater withdrawals and consumption. It describes the process of mapping cooling systems to specific generators, using Google Earth to verify cooling types, and applying the Water Supply Stress Index (WaSSI) to identify watersheds where electricity generation significantly increases water stress. The methodology also covers the projection of water use through 2036 using the Regional Energy Deployment System (ReEDS) model and the calculation of water and carbon intensities for the top 15 U.S. electricity providers.

• The EW3 database relies primarily on 2008 EIA Form 860 and Form 923 data, though it only includes organic-fueled steam electric plants with capacities greater than 100 MW due to EIA reporting requirements.
• To improve the accuracy of cooling system data, the authors used Google Earth to manually verify and correct the cooling types for 848 generators, representing 32 percent of electrical output.
• The analysis identifies 'environmental-compliance cooling' as a distinct category where cooling towers are placed downstream of the boiler condensation loop specifically to reduce the temperature of effluent.
• Water withdrawals and consumption were calculated by applying water coefficients from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and Argonne National Laboratory (for geothermal plants) to estimated electrical output.
• The study utilizes the Water Supply Stress Index (WaSSI), defined as the ratio of water demand to water supply, and considers basins with a WaSSI above 0.4 to be highly stressed.
• Future water use projections to 2036 were modeled using the Regional Energy Deployment System (ReEDS), assuming that new capacity added after 2008 would utilize more water-efficient recirculating-cooling systems.

APA

Union of Concerned Scientists (n.d.). Freshwater Use by U.S. Power Plants: Electricity’s Thirst for a Precious Resource. https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/2019-09/ew3-freshwater-use-by-us-power-plants_apx-a_methodology.pdf

Chicago

Union of Concerned Scientists. Freshwater Use by U.S. Power Plants: Electricity’s Thirst for a Precious Resource. n.d. https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/2019-09/ew3-freshwater-use-by-us-power-plants_apx-a_methodology.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Union of Concerned Scientists |title=Freshwater Use by U.S. Power Plants: Electricity’s Thirst for a Precious Resource |url=https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/2019-09/ew3-freshwater-use-by-us-power-plants_apx-a_methodology.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{unionofconcernedscientistsndfreshwater, author = {{Union of Concerned Scientists}}, title = {{Freshwater Use by U.S. Power Plants: Electricity’s Thirst for a Precious Resource}}, institution = {Union of Concerned Scientists}, url = {https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/2019-09/ew3-freshwater-use-by-us-power-plants_apx-a_methodology.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }