March 25, 2026
Mr. Durbin introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources
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.