Sponsors (2)
The bill improves transparency and funds clean generation to reduce electricity-sector emissions and aid grid planning, but does so by imposing emissions‑based fees, disclosure requirements, and regulatory burdens that raise costs for data centers, cryptocurrency miners, and some utilities—costs that may be passed on to consumers and businesses.
Utilities, grid operators, and state/tribal/municipal planners will get standardized facility-level electricity use and emissions data and clearer evidence to plan capacity and upgrades, enabling better grid investment and reliability decisions.
State, tribal, municipal governments and electric utilities can receive grant funding for clean firm generation and storage projects, lowering future electricity emissions and improving local grid reliability.
Owners/operators of covered facilities, investors, and local communities will gain public, standardized transparency on facility electricity use and grid emissions intensity, which can guide investment, community planning, and policy responses.
Owners/operators of covered facilities (data centers and cryptomining sites) will face new per‑kWh emissions fees and increased regulatory scrutiny, raising operating costs for those businesses.
Electric utilities will face new fees tied to excess grid emissions that could increase their operating costs and financial strain, creating pressure to shift costs or restructure rates.
Consumers, taxpayers, and small businesses could see higher cloud/IT and electricity costs if data center growth is constrained or facility owners pass through compliance and fee costs.
Based on analysis of 4 sections of legislative text.
Requires annual federal reporting of electricity use, on-site generation, procurement terms, and location from large data centers and cryptomining facilities and the utilities that serve them.
Introduced April 10, 2025 by Sheldon Whitehouse · Last progress April 10, 2025
Requires owners of large data centers and cryptomining facilities, and the electric utilities that serve them, to provide annual information to federal energy and air regulators about electricity use, on-site generation, procurement terms, and facility location. The Environmental Protection Agency will collect this information in coordination with the Energy Information Administration for facilities with more than 100 kilowatts of installed IT nameplate power. Aims to increase transparency about how much electricity these facilities use, where that electricity comes from, and how it is procured, driven by findings that data centers and proof-of-work cryptomining are large and growing electricity users and that some operations have relied on restarting fossil-fuel plants to meet demand. The Act adds definitions, reporting requirements, coverage of facilities in U.S. territories, and a severability clause; full reporting details, penalties, and schedules were not included in the excerpt provided.