Senators are pushing to find out how much electricity data centers actually use
On Thursday, senators Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Josh Hawley (R-MO) sent a letter to the Energy Information Administration (EIA) urging it to begin collecting “comprehensive, annual energy-use disclosures” on data centers, as reported by Wired. According to the letter, data on how much electricity data centers are consuming is “essential for accurate grid planning and will support policymaking to prevent large companies from increasing electricity costs for American families.”
The EIA announced on Wednesday that it’s launching a pilot program to evaluate data center energy use, but that program is voluntary and focused on Texas, Washington, Northern Virginia, and Washington, DC. The joint letter from senators Warren and Hawley appears to be calling for much broader reporting on data center energy consumption.
It’s the latest in a growing bipartisan push for transparency and accountability around the impact data centers are having on skyrocketing electricity costs across the country. On Wednesday, Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) introduced a bill proposing a moratorium on data center construction. Similarly, in February, senators Hawley and Blumenthal (D-CT) introduced a bill aiming to slow electricity cost increases stemming from data centers.
Numerous state-level bills are also under consideration, like one in New York that would put a three-year pause on new data center construction in the state. In December, Democratic lawmakers also sent a letter to tech companies and data center developers demanding answers on how much power data centers are using and the companies’ plans to keep expanding their data centers.
