January 8, 2026
Mr. Menendez (for himself and Mr. Casar) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce
To require reports on the effects of data centers on air quality and water quality, and on electricity consumption by data centers.
Section 1. Short title
This Act may be cited as the Data Center Transparency Act
.
Sec. 2. Reports on the effects of data centers on air quality and water quality; reports on electricity consumption by data centers
(a) Reports on the effects of data centers on air quality and water quality
Not later than 6 months after the date of enactment of this section, and not less frequently than once every 3 months thereafter, the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency shall submit to Congress, and make publicly available on a website, a report that identifies, with respect to the period of 3 months preceding the submission and publication of the report—
(1)
the total amount of water consumed by data centers located in the United States;
(2)
how such data centers reuse water, and the amount of such reused water;
(3)
how such data centers affect local water systems, including with respect to—
(A)
the availability of potable water;
(B)
whether the data center increased demand on local water utilities;
(C)
any potential data on service disruptions for other customers of local water utilities;
(D)
any changes in residential rates for water services; and
(E)
the type and amount of pollutants (as such term is defined in section 502(6) of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1362(6))) discharged into water by data centers;
(4)
the total amount of greenhouse gases emitted from such data centers; and
(5)
the effect of such greenhouse gas emissions, including the cumulative effect on overburdened communities.
(b) Reports on electricity consumption by data centers
(1) Collection of data
The Administrator of the Energy Information Administration shall collect data on the total amount of energy consumed every 6 months by each data center located in the United States.
(2) Reports
Not later than 6 months after the date of enactment of this section, and not less frequently than once every 6 months thereafter, the Administrator of the Energy Information Administration shall submit to Congress, and make publicly available on a website, a report that identifies, with respect to the period of 6 months preceding the submission and publication of the report—
(A)
the total amount of energy consumption by data centers, disaggregated by State;
(B)
how such energy consumption may have changed during such period of 6 months;
(C)
the number of data centers that began operating during such period of 6 months;
(D)
how household energy bills may have changed during such period of 6 months; and
(E)
the average household energy use and cost.
(c) Data center defined
In this section, the term data center has the meaning given such term in section 453(a) of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (42 U.S.C. 17112(a)).