Congress demands data centers reveal their water and energy use
H.R. 10005 — Data Center Resource Disclosure Act · Filed by Hillary Scholten (D-MI) · 3 cosponsors · Introduced Jul 30, 2026 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill requires data centers to voluntarily report their annual energy and water consumption to the federal government. The Assistant Secretary of Commerce will publish the results on an interactive map, identify which data centers didn't respond, and submit recommendations to Congress on data center regulation and transparency. The survey happens once initially and then annually.
Why we flagged it
The bill's core mechanism is a voluntary survey and public disclosure requirement designed to increase transparency around data center resource consumption. It is fundamentally an information-gathering and accountability tool, not a regulatory or subsidy measure.
What the text implies
- Voluntary disclosure may create competitive pressure on non-respondents, potentially incentivizing participation even without legal mandate.
- Public mapping of data centers and their resource use could inform future state/local regulation, environmental litigation, or community opposition to new facilities.
- Aggregated data may reveal regional water/energy stress patterns that inform federal infrastructure or climate policy.
- Non-response identification creates reputational risk for data center operators, potentially affecting investor perception and ESG ratings.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
The bill creates public transparency about resource consumption by major data centers—information citizens and regulators currently lack—without imposing mandatory compliance or penalties. Voluntary disclosure with public reporting enables informed policy-making and community oversight of resource-intensive infrastructure.
Named in the bill
Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information, National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Department of Energy (DOE), Data center operators (voluntary respondents), Public utility boards, Labor organizations, State regulatory authorities, Public interest organizations
Where it stands
3 cosponsors: 3 Democrats.
- Jul 30, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Jul 30, 2026 — Referred to House Committee on Energy and Commerce · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (2,134 characters) on Jul 31, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,222 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
As of — page rendered 2026-10-20.
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