Democrats target data centers’ energy, water use
A pair of House Democrats are moving to address the impacts of data centers with two bills that would impose new restrictions on energy and water use at those facilities.
Reps. Rob Menendez of New Jersey and Greg Casar of Texas introduced the “Preventing Rate Inflation in Consumer Energy (PRICE) Act,” H.R. 6983, and the “Data Center Transparency Act,” H.R. 6984, arguing the measures are needed to rein in rising electricity costs and environmental impacts associated with artificial intelligence-driven data center growth.
“While AI innovation is promising, we must ensure that our constituents are not negatively impacted by the industry’s continued expansion,” Menendez said. “New Jersey families have seen their electricity bills increase by 20 percent because of the rapid growth of energy-intensive AI data centers.”
The “PRICE Act” would require data center operators to generate all of the electricity they consume, a significant shift from the current model in which most facilities draw power from the broader electric grid. While some major technology companies have explored building their own generation, self-supply remains uncommon.
