Data Center Water and Energy Transparency Act of 2026
- Bill Number
- S. 4213
- Origin Chamber
- Senate
- Congress
- 119th Congress, Session 2
- Policy Area
- Environmental Protection
- Status
- Introduced
- Latest Action
- 2026-03-25: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. (text: CR S1616-1617)
- Last Updated
- 2026-04-15T14:38:04Z
AI-Generated Summary
Purpose
The Data Center Water and Energy Transparency Act of 2026 aims to increase transparency on the energy and water consumption of large data centers by requiring operators to report usage data. This helps governments track environmental impacts, efficiency, and future projections, promoting better resource management.
Key Provisions
- Definitions: Clarifies terms like data center (facilities for IT equipment, as defined in existing law), energy use (electricity and other energy in kilowatt-hours), power usage effectiveness (PUE) (a standard efficiency metric for energy), and water usage effectiveness (WUE) (a standard metric for water efficiency).
- Reporting for Existing Data Centers: Operators of data centers with a peak demand of 25 megawatts or more must submit annual reports to the state (or EPA Administrator and Secretaries of Energy and Agriculture if the state lacks a program). Reports cover:
- Past year's monthly energy and water use, sources, PUE, and WUE.
- 5-year projections with efficiency improvement plans.
- States can require additional info and charge fees; reports shared with local governments on request.
- Reporting for New or Expanded Data Centers: Builders or expanders of facilities projected to use 25 megawatts or more must report projected 5-year energy/water use and efficiency plans to states (or feds if no state program).
- Aggregated Federal Reporting: States send anonymized data to federal agencies; feds publish annual public reports on national/regional totals, rate impacts, environmental effects, and best practices (excluding proprietary info).
- Enforcement and Fees: States enforce their programs with fines; feds impose $20,000 daily fines (inflation-adjusted) for negligent violations, and charge fees to cover costs.
Significant Changes to Existing Law
- Introduces first federal mandatory reporting on data center energy and water use, building on definitions from the 2007 Energy Independence and Security Act.
- Creates a fallback federal system if states opt out, with coordinated rulemaking by EPA, Energy, and Agriculture departments.
- No prior nationwide requirement existed for such detailed, standardized disclosures or public aggregated reports.
Potential Impacts
- Government Agencies: EPA, Energy, and Agriculture gain data for policy; states/localities get tools for planning and fees for administration.
- Citizens and Communities: Improved awareness of data center effects on water/electricity rates, supply, and environment (e.g., cooling water strain).
- Data Centers: Added compliance costs but incentives for efficiency via public projections.
- No direct international relations impacts noted.
Main Stakeholders Affected
- Data center operators (e.g., tech companies like those running cloud services).
- State and local governments (collect/share data, enforce rules).
- Federal agencies (EPA, DOE, USDA for oversight and reporting).
- Consumers and communities near data centers (via impact transparency).
Notable Legal, Constitutional, or Political Implications
- Legal: Balances state primacy (preferred reporting path) with federal backstop; allows fees/fines but protects proprietary data. Enables states to tailor rules.
- Constitutional: Relies on Commerce Clause authority over interstate energy/water use; no apparent takings or free speech issues as reporting is factual/business-related.
- Political: Addresses rising data center demands (e.g., from AI/cloud computing) amid energy shortages; promotes voluntary efficiency without direct mandates, potentially bipartisan appeal for transparency.
This summary was generated by AI and may contain inaccuracies. Refer to the official source document for the authoritative text.
Sponsor
Sen. Durbin, Richard J. [D-IL]
Recent Actions
- 2026-03-25: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. (text: CR S1616-1617)
- 2026-03-25: Introduced in Senate
Bill Versions
- Data Center Water and Energy Transparency Act of 2026 — issued 2026-03-25 — PDF (13 pages)