HR 9825: Data Center Water and Energy Transparency Act of 2026

HR 9825 in plain English: This bill would require data center operators to publicly disclose their water and energy usage, with financial penalties for noncompliance. Operators who negligently violate the reporting requirements face fines of $20,000 for each day they are in violation.

Stated purpose

The bill requires operators of large data centers to report their energy and water use annually to states or federal agencies, so that governments have clear information about how much electricity and water data centers consume.

Key points

• Requires data center operators to publicly report their water and energy consumption.
• Imposes fines of $20,000 per day for negligent violations of the reporting requirements.

Arguments supporters make

• Communities and policymakers need accurate data on how much electricity and water data centers use before they can make informed decisions about energy grids, water supplies, and local planning.
• As AI and cloud computing grow, data centers are consuming more resources; transparency requirements let states catch problems early and hold companies accountable without outright restricting operations.
• Requiring operators to project future use and propose efficiency improvements creates a built-in incentive to reduce waste, which could benefit ratepayers and water users in the same regions.

Arguments opponents make

• Mandatory reporting adds administrative costs and compliance burdens on data center operators, which could slow investment in digital infrastructure or push development to less-regulated locations.
• Reported data on energy sources, cooling methods, and future capacity could reveal sensitive business information to competitors or expose security vulnerabilities in critical digital infrastructure.
• A patchwork of different state reporting formats and requirements could create an uneven regulatory landscape that disadvantages companies operating across multiple states compared to those in a single state.

Tradeoffs

Giving governments and communities detailed information about data center resource use may improve planning and accountability, but it also places new reporting obligations and potential fees on operators, which could affect the pace or location of data center development. The bill tries to balance state flexibility with federal backstop authority, but this may produce inconsistent standards across the country.

Current status in Congress: In committee.

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