Senators push for mandatory data center energy reporting

On Thursday, U.S. Senators Josh Hawley and Elizabeth Warren sent a letter to the EIA (the U.S. Energy Information Administration) requesting that the agency collect detailed energy consumption data from data centers. The senators urged the agency to establish a mandatory annual reporting requirement for data centers and other large loads, which is an industry term for high-energy-consuming entities like data centers. According to U.S. Senators Josh Hawley and Elizabeth Warren, “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.” The senators requested that the agency reply to their letter by April 9.

The regulatory push comes as energy consumption by data centers surges. For example, Google’s data center energy consumption doubled between 2020 and 2024. This trend is expected to continue, as planned new data centers will nearly triple the sector’s energy demand by 2035. To address this, Hawley and Warren are asking the EIA to collect more granular information on data centers, including whether data center customers participate in demand response programs, which are utility programs that pay heavy energy users to reduce consumption during peak periods.

Currently, the EIA tracks only four broad categories of energy use. EIA Administrator Tristan Abbey previously stated that the agency will play an essential role in collecting data on data center energy demand. However, establishing new reporting requirements takes time. Abbey noted that while the agency frequently receives requests for analysis, it rarely receives requests for entirely new products. He added that launching a new survey from scratch probably takes about two years, though existing authorities could allow the agency to bypass this timeline by conducting smaller, more targeted surveys.

This pressure on the EIA is part of a broader legislative focus on the technology sector’s environmental footprint. On Wednesday, Senator Bernie Sanders and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez announced plans to introduce legislation that would halt new data center construction until Congress establishes regulations for artificial intelligence.

Why it matters

The lack of standardized data on large energy loads like data centers creates significant grid planning risks, prompting lawmakers to seek more granular oversight of the sector’s consumption.