HR-10005-119
Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
Sponsored by Hillary Scholten (D-MI)
What it does
This bill would direct the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information (head of NTIA) to conduct an annual voluntary survey of U.S. data center operators, asking them to report their energy and water consumption from the prior year. The NTIA would publish results on an interactive public map within 180 days of each survey and submit a report to Congress with recommendations on data center regulation and transparency. The bill also allows utilities, labor organizations, state regulators, and consumer groups to submit public comments alongside each survey cycle.
Who benefits
Researchers, policymakers, and journalists who would gain access to standardized public data on data center resource use. State and local regulators seeking information to inform utility planning or land-use decisions. Public utility boards and grid operators that need consumption data for infrastructure planning. Environmental and consumer advocacy organizations that would gain a formal comment channel. Communities near data centers that may be affected by local water and energy demand. Competing energy-intensive industries that may benefit from greater scrutiny of data center resource use.
Who is hurt
Data center operators — including large technology companies and cloud providers — who may face reputational or regulatory pressure based on disclosed consumption figures, even though participation is voluntary. Operators who decline to participate would be publicly identified on the NTIA map as non-respondents, creating indirect pressure to disclose. Smaller, independent data center operators with fewer compliance resources may find even voluntary reporting burdensome. States with existing or pending data center disclosure laws could see their frameworks preempted or complicated if federal recommendations lead to future legislation.
Supporters argue
Supporters argue that U.S. data centers consumed an estimated 200 terawatt-hours of electricity in 2022 — roughly 4% of national electricity use — and that this share is projected to grow sharply with AI and cloud computing expansion, yet no standardized federal data on consumption exists. They contend that voluntary disclosure with public mapping creates accountability without imposing mandates, giving Congress, utilities, and communities the factual baseline needed to make informed decisions about grid reliability, water scarcity, and infrastructure investment.
Opponents argue
Opponents argue that publicly identifying non-participating operators on a federal map effectively coerces disclosure despite the bill's voluntary label, raising concerns about compelled speech and competitive harm from revealing proprietary operational data. They contend that the bill's mandate for Congress to receive regulatory recommendations could serve as a pretext for future mandates, and that existing state-level disclosure efforts — such as those in Virginia and Georgia — already address this need without creating a new federal bureaucratic layer.
Constitutional context
Congress has broad authority to direct federal agencies to collect and publish information under the Commerce Clause (Art. I, §8, cl. 3). Because participation is voluntary and no government access to private digital records is compelled, the Fourth Amendment concerns identified in Carpenter v. United States (2018) are not directly triggered. However, post-Loper Bright (2024), any future regulations stemming from the NTIA's recommendations would face independent judicial scrutiny rather than deference to the agency's interpretation.
Checks and balances
The executive branch (NTIA/Commerce) gains a new annual reporting and publication function; Congress retains oversight through the required annual report and recommendations, and any future regulatory action based on those recommendations would require separate legislative or rulemaking authority subject to judicial review.
Historical precedent
The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 directed the EPA and DOE to study data center energy efficiency and report to Congress, establishing a prior federal precedent for information-gathering on data center resource use without imposing operational mandates.