<p>The House Committee on Energy and Commerce will consider legislation regarding water use by data centers amid growing public concern about the impact of these facilities. A hearing is scheduled for Thursday, September 3, to discuss the draft of the Water Cost Water Accountability Act, which aims to ensure that communities do not incur costs related to data center water consumption or infrastructure, according to a committee spokesperson.</p>
<p>Chairman Brett Guthrie (R-KY) stated, “While data centers consume a fraction of the water of many other industries and have proven that new technologies are actually reducing new water consumption, nonetheless, Americans should have confidence that data center developers are acting responsibly with local water supplies.” He added that the act is a significant step toward protecting the nation’s drinking water and assessing potential costs associated with increased water demand.</p>
<p>The draft bill would enable states receiving grants from State Revolving Loan Funds to prevent public water systems from charging customers additional fees for data centers connecting to the public water system or for expanding infrastructure. Instead, these costs would need to be covered by the data center’s owner or operator.</p>
<p>Additionally, the bill would require the Environmental Protection Agency to report to Congress on the water sources used by “qualified data centers,” defined as those with an intake exceeding 200,000 gallons per day on average.</p>
<p>Public concern about the resource strain caused by data centers has increased, with a Gallup poll in April indicating that 50% of respondents opposed data center construction due to its impact on resources such as water, energy, farmland, and forests.</p>
<p>Data centers utilize water for cooling servers and indirectly for electricity. Water consumption varies based on factors such as facility size, cooling technology, local climate, and data center type.</p>
<p>According to a 2024 Berkeley Lab report, U.S. data centers directly consumed 21 billion liters of water in 2014, with total water use increasing to 66 billion liters by 2023. The report projects that hyperscale data centers will consume between 60 billion and 124 billion liters of water by 2028.</p>
<p>The proposed data center water bill is similar to the bipartisan Ratepayer Protection Act, which was unanimously approved by the committee in July and seeks to ensure that households do not bear the energy costs associated with data centers.</p>