← Back to Bill Feed
FederalIn Committee
Data Center Water and Energy Transparency Act of 2026
Introduced Jul 22, 2026 · Last action Jul 22, 2026 — Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
Track this bill
Save bills and get alerts when status changes.
Sign in to saved bills.
Summary
This legislation is called the Data Center Water and Energy Transparency Act of 2026. Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
Full bill text
[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 9825 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
119th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 9825
To require data center operators to submit to States or the
Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency and the
Secretaries of Energy and Agriculture reports on data center energy and
water use, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
July 22, 2026
Ms. Underwood introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Energy and Commerce
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To require data center operators to submit to States or the
Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency and the
Secretaries of Energy and Agriculture reports on data center energy and
water use, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Data Center Water and Energy
Transparency Act of 2026''.
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Administrator.--The term ``Administrator'' means the
Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.
(2) Data center terms.--The terms ``data center'' and
``data center operator'' have the meanings given those terms in
section 453(a) of the Energy Independence and Security Act of
2007 (42 U.S.C. 17112(a)).
(3) Energy use.--The term ``energy use'', with respect to
data centers, means the total quantity of electricity and other
forms of energy consumed on site by that data center, as
measured in kilowatt-hours.
(4) Power usage effectiveness.--The term ``power usage
effectiveness'' has the meaning given the term in ISO/IEC
30134-2:2026 of the International Organization for
Standardization (or a successor standard).
(5) Secretaries.--The term ``Secretaries'' means the
Secretary of Energy and the Secretary of Agriculture.
(6) State.--The term ``State'' means--
(A) each of the several States;
(B) a territory of the United States;
(C) the Federated States of Micronesia;
(D) the Republic of the Marshall Islands;
(E) the Republic of Palau;
(F) an Indian tribe included on the list most
recently published by the Secretary of the Interior
under section 104 of the Federally Recognized Indian
Tribe List Act of 1994 (25 U.S.C. 5131); and
(G) the District of Columbia.
(7) Unit of local government.--The term ``unit of local
government'' means any county, parish, city, town, township,
village, or other general purpose political subdivision of a
State with the power to levy taxes, expend Federal, State, and
local funds, and exercise governmental powers.
(8) Water usage effectiveness.--The term ``water usage
effectiveness'' has the meaning given the term in ISO/IEC
30134-9:2022 of the International Organization for
Standardization (or a successor standard).
(9) Water use.--The term ``water use'', with respect to a
data center, means the total amount of water consumed on-site
by a data center, including water used for cooling, as measured
in gallons.
SEC. 3. DATA CENTER MANDATORY REPORTING AND INFORMATION REQUIREMENT.
(a) Data Collection.--
(1) Report to state.--
(A) In general.--Beginning not later than 1 year
after the date of enactment of this Act but subject to
paragraph (2), each data center operator with 1 or more
data centers in a State shall submit to that State an
annual report that, with respect to each data center in
the State with a peak demand of not less than 25
megawatts operated by that data center operator,
describes--
(i) on-site energy use and water use for
the preceding calendar year, including--
(I) total energy use during each
month of that calendar year;
(II) if the data center relies on
behind-the-meter power generation, the
method to generate that power;
(III) total water use and the
source of that water during each month
of that calendar year; and
(IV) annual average power usage
effectiveness and water usage
effectiveness;
(ii) projected on-site energy use and water
use for not less than the following 5 calendar
years, which shall include proposals for
reducing the energy use and water use of the
data center and the increases in efficiency
that are anticipated to result from those
proposals; and
(iii) such other information as the State
may require.
(B) Form.--A data center operator shall submit a
report under subparagraph (A) in such form and in such
manner as the applicable State may require.
(C) Fees authorized.--A State may, in requiring the
reports described in this paragraph, assess fees on
data center operators to support data collection under
this paragraph.
(2) Report to administrator and secretaries.--
(A) In general.--If a State does not have a program
to collect the information described in clauses (i) and
(ii) of paragraph (1)(A)--
(i) the State shall inform the
Administrator and the Secretaries jointly; and
(ii) a data center operator with data
centers in such a State shall submit to the
Administrator and Secretaries jointly a report
that, with respect to each data center in such
a State with a peak demand of not less than 25
megawatts operated by that data center
operator, describes--
(I) the information described in
those clauses; and
(II) such other information as the
Administrator and Secretaries may
jointly require.
(B) Form.--A data center operator shall submit a
report under subparagraph (A) in such form and in such
manner as the Administrator and Secretaries may jointly
require.
(3) Reports to local governments.--A report to a State or
the Administrator and the Secretaries jointly under paragraph
(1) or (2) shall be made available to an affected unit of local
government on request and, if applicable, in compliance with
any program established by the State for the collection of
those reports.
(b) Reports on Prospective and Expanded Data Centers.--
(1) Report to state.--
(A) In general.--Subject to paragraph (2), each
person seeking to construct a data center with a
projected energy use of not less than 25 megawatts and
each data center operator seeking to expand a data
center with a projected energy use of not less than 25
megawatts shall submit to the State in which the new or
expanded data center would operate a report that
describes--
(i) as applicable--
(I) the projected energy use and
water use and the sources of energy and
water of the new data center during the
first 5 calendar years after the data
center begins operation; or
(II) the projected increase in
energy use and water use as a result of
the expansion of a data center during
the first 5 calendar years after
completion of the expansion; and
(ii) proposals for reducing the energy use
and water use of the data center and the
increases in efficiency that are anticipated to
result from those proposals.
(B) Form.--A report submitted under subparagraph
(A) shall be submitted in such form and in such manner
as the applicable State may require.
(2) Report to administrator and secretaries.--
(A) In general.--If a State does not have a program
to collect the information described in paragraph
(1)(A)--
(i) the State shall inform the
Administrator and the Secretaries jointly; and
(ii) a person seeking to construct a data
center and each data center operator seeking to
expand a data center in such a State shall
submit to the Administrator and the Secretaries
jointly a report that describes, with respect
to the proposed data center or the expansion of
the data center, the information described in
that paragraph.
(B) Form.--A person or data center operator shall
submit a report under subparagraph (A) in such form and
in such manner as the Administrator and Secretaries may
jointly require.
(3) Reports to local governments.--A report to a State or
the Administrator and the Secretaries jointly under paragraph
(1) or (2) shall be made available to an affected unit of local
government on request and, if applicable, in compliance with
any program established by the State for the collection of
those reports.
(c) Aggregated Reports.--
(1) Reports from states.--
(A) In general.--Each State that receives a report
under subsection (a)(1) or (b)(1) shall submit to the
Administrator and the Secretaries jointly an annual
report that describes the data collected pursuant to
all such reports submitted to the State under
subsection (a)(1) or (b)(1), as applicable, during the
previous year in such a manner as may be required
jointly by the Administrator and the Secretaries.
(B) Anonymized data.--The reports submitted under
subparagraph (A) shall only include anonymized and
aggregated information.
(2) Public report.--The Administrator and the Secretaries
shall jointly make publicly available on an annual basis a
report that--
(A) describes--
(i) using information collected from the
reports under subsections (a)(2) and (b)(2) and
paragraph (1)(A), the aggregated total energy
use and water use of data centers in the United
States, by region, during the calendar year
covered by the report;
(ii) regional impacts of data centers on
water and electricity rates for consumers and
communities;
(iii) the environmental impacts resulting
from the operation of data centers, including--
(I) water and energy sources,
supply, quality, and reliability
impacts on consumers and communities;
and
(II) other direct or indirect
impacts; and
(iv) recommendations for best practices to
limit the impacts described in clauses (ii) and
(iii);
(B) includes, based on the reports received by the
Administrator and the Secretaries jointly under
subsections (a)(2) and (b)(2) and paragraph (1)(A) for
the calendar year covered by the report, the aggregated
projection of energy use and water use by data centers
for the 5 years following that calendar year; and
(C) does not include any information that the
Administrator and the Secretaries jointly determine is
proprietary.
(d) Rulemaking.--
(1) Federal authority.--The Administrator and the
Secretaries may jointly promulgate such regulations as may be
necessary to carry out this section.
(2) State authority.--A State may promulgate such
regulations in accordance with the laws of the State as may be
necessary to carry out this section.
(e) Enforcement.--
(1) State enforcement.--If a State establishes a program
for collecting data pursuant to subsection (a)(1) and (b)(1),
the State may issue fines and otherwise engage in other
enforcement activities to comply with the requirements of this
Act and applicable State laws.
(2) Federal enforcement.--
(A) In general.--Subject to paragraph (2), the
Administrator and the Secretaries shall jointly fine a
data center operator that negligently violates a
requirement of subsection (a)(2) or (b)(2) $20,000 for
each day that the data center operator is in violation
of that requirement.
(B) Inflation adjustment.--On the date that is 3
years after the date of enactment of this Act, and
every 3 years thereafter, the Administrator and the
Secretaries shall jointly adjust the amount described
in subparagraph (A) to reflect changes for the 36-month
period ending the preceding November 30 in the Consumer
Price Index for All Urban Consumers published by the
Bureau of Labor Statistics of the Department of Labor.
SEC. 4. FEES.
The Administrator and the Secretaries shall jointly assess fees on
data center operators that submit a report under subsection (a)(2) or
(b)(2) of section 3 in an amount necessary to carry out this Act and
may, without further appropriation, use the amounts collected to carry
out those subsections.
<all>Official legislative text sourced from the public record (cached on CivicsHQ).
Official source
View the original bill, actions, and full legislative record on Congress.gov.
Status
In Committee
- 1Introduced
- 2Committee
- 3Floor
- 4Passed
- 5Signed
Timeline reflects current normalized status only. Full action history is not yet stored in the API.
Sponsors
- Rep. Underwood, Lauren [D-IL-14]DHouseIL
Cosponsors
No cosponsors on record.
Votes
Voting records are not yet available for this bill.