Google's three Nebraska data centers marked their electricity use, water consumption and tax figures as trade secrets in mandatory state filings. Then a local TV station found a flaw: the text was still there, hidden under a black box that anyone with a computer cursor could defeat.
According to KOLN 10/11 NOW, the NBC affiliate in Lincoln, Nebraska, highlighting the redacted text in the reports and pasting it into a separate document revealed figures Google had withheld from public view, including a 52.65 megawatt peak electricity demand, 13.3 million gallons of annual water use, and tens of millions of dollars in expected tax refunds.
Why the Data Centers Filed Secret Reports
The disclosures stem from an executive order signed by Nebraska Governor Jim Pillen on July 20, which requires data centers in the state to self-report their impact on water supplies, the power grid and local infrastructure. Reports were due to the state's Department of Water, Energy and Environment (DWEE) by September 30, and a DWEE Data Center Task Force oversees the program.
When Google's Lincoln facility, registered as Agate LLC, filed its annual report, it claimed its electricity and water figures were trade secret information, citing Nebraska statutes including Neb. Rev. Stat. §§ 81-1527 and 84-712.05, along with state environmental regulations. Google made the same claim for all three of its Nebraska sites, including facilities in Omaha and Papillion operating under the names Westwood Solutions LLC and Fireball Group LLC.
The redactions did not hold. KOLN's copy-paste test pulled the hidden text straight out of the document, and the station has since filed a public records request for the redacted information.
What the Hidden Numbers Show
The unredacted figures give Nebraskans their first concrete look at what the facilities consume. Google's Lincoln data center reported 52.65 megawatts of electricity during peak demand — roughly enough to power tens of thousands of homes — and 13.299 megagallons of water per year across cooling towers, evaporative systems and site operations, or about 13 million gallons.
That is enough water to fill roughly 20 Olympic-size swimming pools. For context, it is less than half of what the City of Lincoln reported using in a single day on September 29 — a reminder that municipal systems dwarf even large industrial users, but also that the new data centers arrive on top of existing demand.
The Papillion facility told a very different story. Fireball Group LLC reported 547.88 megagallons of water for its 2025 annual consumption, making it by far the largest water user among the state's reporting data centers. The Lincoln building itself spans 288,530 square feet of gross floor area — about five football fields.
The filings also exposed money, not just megawatts. Agate LLC expects a refund of $55,822,472 from its 2025 taxes. Fireball LLC expects $39,171,573.39, and Westwood Solutions LLC, the Omaha site, expects $22,558,881 — a combined total of more than $117 million in expected refunds across Google's three Nebraska facilities.
The reports state that the data centers only utilize or expect to utilize sales and use tax exemptions under the Nebraska Advantage Act, and that no incentive payments have been received or are expected under the ImagiNE Nebraska Act. No rebates have been received so far under the Advantage program either, according to the filings.
Six Data Centers, 765 Million Gallons
Google's facilities are not the only ones now on the record. As of September 30, six data centers had filed reports with the state, disclosing a combined 765 million gallons of water use last year — enough to fill nearly 1,160 Olympic swimming pools.
The statewide picture explains why Governor Pillen's order requiring the reporting program has drawn attention in a state sitting atop the Ogallala Aquifer, one of the world's largest freshwater reserves. Nebraska's water resources and cheap power have made it a magnet for data center construction, even as residents and local officials push for disclosure of what the facilities consume.
A National Fight Over Data Center Secrecy
The Nebraska episode fits a broader pattern. Across the United States, data center operators routinely classify utility consumption, water contracts and incentive deals as confidential, citing competitive harm. Communities from Virginia to Georgia to Arizona have pushed back, arguing that residents cannot evaluate the costs of massive facilities — strained grids, depleted aquifers, tax burdens — without basic numbers.
AI Buzz Wire has previously reported on Amazon requiring nondisclosure agreements around its data center community investments, surging rural land prices near data center sites, and grid operators warning of AI-driven power demand. The Nebraska filings are a rare case where the numbers became public anyway — not through a policy change, but through a formatting error.
What Happens Next
KOLN's public records request could force the state to clarify whether the trade-secret designations were valid in the first place. The DWEE Data Center Task Force continues to collect annual reports, and next year's filings will show whether consumption is growing as AI buildout accelerates.
For now, the lesson for transparency advocates is unexpectedly simple: sometimes the strongest tool for open government is a cursor, a Ctrl+C, and a Ctrl+V.
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