S. 4213 — Data Center Water and Energy Transparency Act of 2026

This section provides definitions for terms used in the Act, including "Administrator" (i.e., the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency); "data center" and "data center operator" (as defined in 42 U.S.C. 17112(a)); "energy use" and "water use" (with respect to data centers, i.e., total electricity or water consumed on-site, measured in kilowatt-hours or gallons); "power usage effectiveness" and "water usage effectiveness" (as defined in specified ISO/IEC standards or successors); "Secretaries" (i.e., the Secretaries of Energy and Agriculture); "State" (i.e., each of the several states, U.S. territories, the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Republic of Palau, an Indian tribe on the list most recently published by the Secretary of the Interior under the Federally Recognized Indian Tribe List Act of 1994 (25 U.S.C. 5131), and the District of Columbia); and "unit of local government" (i.e., any county, parish, municipality, or other general-purpose political subdivision of a state with taxing and governmental powers).

This section establishes annual reporting requirements, beginning one year after enactment, for operators of data centers in a state with a peak demand of not less than 25 megawatts. Operators must report to the state (or jointly to the EPA Administrator and relevant Secretaries if the state lacks a program) on each such data center's preceding-year on-site monthly energy and water use (including power usage effectiveness and water usage effectiveness), behind-the-meter power generation methods if applicable, projected use for the next five years, and efficiency improvement proposals; states may specify form, manner, and fees, and reports must be available to affected local governments on request. This section further requires persons seeking to construct new data centers or operators seeking to expand existing ones with projected energy use of not less than 25 megawatts to submit similar five-year projection reports to the state (or federal officials if the state lacks a program), with availability to local governments. This section directs states receiving reports to submit annual anonymized, aggregated data to the Administrator and Secretaries, who must jointly publish annual public reports on total U.S. data center energy and water use by region, regional impacts on water and electricity rates, and environmental impacts from data center operations.

This section directs the Administrator and the Secretaries to jointly assess fees on data center operators submitting reports under section 3(a)(2) or (b)(2), in amounts necessary to carry out the Act, and authorizes use of the collected fees without further appropriation to implement those subsections.