Data Centers: Senate Demands Your Power Bills

On Thursday, two U.S. Senators, Josh Hawley and Elizabeth Warren, escalated efforts to address the growing energy consumption of data centers. They dispatched a letter to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), urging the agency to gather comprehensive data on data center energy usage and its subsequent impact on the national power grid.

In their correspondence, which was reviewed by TechCrunch and first reported by Wired, the senators pressed the EIA “to establish a mandatory annual reporting requirement for data centers and other large loads.” They emphasized the critical need for this data, stating, “As electricity demand growth continues to accelerate after years of relative stagnation, the lack of reliable, standardized data on large load energy consumption poses significant risks to effective grid planning and oversight.”

This initiative is not an isolated incident in the political landscape concerning data center regulation. Just a day prior, Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez announced plans to introduce legislation aimed at imposing a moratorium on new data center construction until Congress can establish a regulatory framework for artificial intelligence.

The energy footprint of data centers has seen a dramatic surge in recent years. Illustratively, Google’s data centers alone witnessed a doubling of their energy consumption between 2020 and 2024. Projections indicate this trend is set to continue, with anticipated new data centers nearly tripling the sector’s energy demand by 2035.

The EIA functions as a crucial government agency responsible for the collection and analysis of data pertaining to the nation's energy system, often likened to a census bureau for the power grid. It was founded in 1977, operating under the Department of Energy, a direct response to the energy crises of the early 1970s.

For decades, the EIA has amassed extensive information on U.S. energy consumption, encompassing costs, generation sources, and efficiency initiatives. While it monitors energy usage across various sectors, its current focus is limited to four broad classifications: residential, commercial, industrial, and transportation.

Senators Hawley and Warren are specifically requesting the EIA to gather more granular data concerning data centers, particularly differentiating energy consumption between intensive AI computing tasks and standard cloud services.

Their requests for data are highly specific, encompassing hourly, annual, and peak energy loads, as well as the rates paid by companies. Furthermore, they seek information on any grid infrastructure upgrades necessitated by the integration of new large loads, the funding mechanisms for these upgrades, and the extent of data center customer participation in demand response programs, where utilities incentivize significant users to curtail consumption during peak periods.

The letter specifically references EIA administrator Tristan Abbey, who stated in December that the agency would be an “essential player” in collecting data on energy demand from data centers. Senators Hawley and Warren have requested a response from the agency by April 9.

While the EIA has not publicly confirmed if the data collection process is already in motion, any modifications to its survey methodologies typically involve the Office of Management and Budget process, which mandates a period for public comment.

During the December public event, Abbey acknowledged, “We get requests for analysis very often. We get requests for an actual new product less frequently.” He further explained the typical timeline, stating, “It takes probably about two years to launch a new survey from scratch. But there are authorities that exist where you can avoid the two-year process by conducting surveys of smaller scope, but potentially a sharper signal.”