Congress targets data center emissions with escalating fees, protecting household electricity bills
H.R. 6179 — Clean Cloud Act of 2025 · Filed by Steve Cohen (D-TN) · 9 cosponsors · Introduced Nov 20, 2025 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill amends the Clean Air Act to require data centers and cryptocurrency mining facilities (those using more than 100 kilowatts of power) to report their annual electricity consumption and the carbon intensity of their power sources to the EPA. Starting in 2026, the bill imposes escalating fees on utilities and facility owners whose electricity exceeds regional carbon-intensity baselines, with the baseline declining 11% annually until reaching zero by 2035. Revenue from these fees (70% of collections) funds grants for zero-carbon electricity generation and long-duration energy storage; 25% supports state and local programs to offset residential electricity cost increases; and 3% covers administration.
Why we flagged it
The bill's core mechanism is a carbon-intensity fee on electricity consumed by large data centers and crypto miners, structured as a Clean Air Act amendment. The operative purpose is emissions reduction through pricing and transparency, with collected revenue explicitly dedicated to consumer energy-cost relief and clean energy deployment.
What the text implies
- The bill's baseline-reduction schedule (11% annually through 2034, then zero by 2035) creates a hard regulatory cliff that may force facility relocations or accelerate retirement of carbon-intensive power plants serving data centers, with uncertain effects on regional electricity markets and stranded assets.
- The 'behind-the-meter' electricity rules (paragraphs 2(2) and 5) create complex accounting for on-site solar/wind/battery systems, with strict 36-month windows and retrofit requirements that may disadvantage smaller operators and favor large, well-capitalized facilities with existing clean-energy infrastructure.
The full analysis lists 5 implications of this text.
Who stands to gain
renewable energy developers (solar, wind, nuclear, long-duration storage); energy storage manufacturers and operators; state and local governments (grant recipients for consumer energy programs)