A recent bipartisan initiative, in the form of a formal letter, marks the newest effort to address the escalating electricity costs attributed to data centers.
On Thursday, Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Josh Hawley (R-MO) dispatched a letter to the Energy Information Administration (EIA). They pressed the agency to commence gathering "comprehensive, annual energy-use disclosures" specifically from data centers, as initially reported by Wired. The correspondence emphasized that comprehensive data on data center electricity consumption is "essential for accurate grid planning and will support policymaking to prevent large companies from increasing electricity costs for American families."
This move follows the EIA's Wednesday announcement of a pilot program designed to assess data center energy usage. However, this program is voluntary and geographically limited, focusing solely on Texas, Washington, Northern Virginia, and Washington, D.C. The joint letter from Senators Warren and Hawley, by contrast, advocates for a significantly more expansive and mandatory reporting framework for data center energy consumption nationwide.
This action is part of a broader, escalating bipartisan drive for greater transparency and accountability regarding the influence of data centers on soaring electricity prices nationwide. Concurrently, on Wednesday, Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) put forward legislation suggesting a moratorium on new data center construction. Earlier, in February, Senators Hawley and Blumenthal (D-CT) also introduced a bill specifically designed to mitigate the electricity cost hikes associated with data center operations.
Furthermore, various state-level legislative proposals are currently being reviewed, including a bill in New York that seeks to impose a three-year pause on the construction of new data centers within the state. Preceding these efforts, in December, Democratic lawmakers had already written to prominent tech companies and data center developers, seeking detailed information on current power consumption by data centers and their future expansion strategies.
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