Senate seeks data center power usage data

U.S. Senators Josh Hawley and Elizabeth Warren have urged the Energy Information Administration (EIA) to mandate annual reporting on energy consumption by data centers. This move comes amid growing concerns about the significant and accelerating energy demands of these facilities, particularly those supporting AI computing. The senators aim to gather more granular data to improve grid planning and oversight, distinguishing between AI workloads and general cloud services. This initiative follows separate legislative proposals to halt new data center construction until AI's energy impact is better regulated, highlighting a rising governmental focus on the environmental footprint of the tech sector.