Warren, Hawley Secure Mandatory Energy Use Reporting Requirements for Data Centers

Warren, Hawley Secure Mandatory Energy Use Reporting Requirements for Data Centers

Energy Information Administration announces plans for a mandatory data center survey in response to Senators' request

Text of Response (PDF)

Washington, D.C. - In response to a request by U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), for the first time, announced plans to conduct a mandatory survey of data centers and their energy usage. This information is necessary to hold data center companies accountable for the impacts they can have on local communities, including ensuring Big Tech companies' compliance with their commitments to shoulder their fair share of utility costs. The EIA's announcement follows a letter sent by Senators Warren and Hawley to EIA Administrator Tristan Abbey in March 2026 requesting the mandatory survey.

"[W]e currently plan to develop a mandatory survey(s) under the notice and public comment procedures of the Paperwork Reduction Act," wrote Administrator Abbey.

The EIA is currently running three preliminary pilot studies covering companies operating data center facilities in Texas, Washington, and the Northern Virginia-District of Columbia region. However, these pilot surveys are entirely voluntary, only cover a fraction of data centers in the U.S., and only require companies to report information on at least one data center they operate.

In its response to Senators Warren and Hawley, the EIA announced plans to perform a mandatory survey of data centers in the U.S. following completion of its pilot surveys no later than September 30, 2026.

"Americans deserve to know how much energy data centers are sucking up and what that's doing to their utility bills," said Senator Warren. "The EIA's mandatory survey is an important first step towards holding data centers accountable, but people are hurting right now. I'm pushing EIA to collect and share this data as soon as possible."

Data centers require enormous amounts of energy. To meet data centers' energy demands, utility companies are pouring billions of dollars into building expensive new grid infrastructure. These infrastructure buildouts are largely funded upfront by the utility companies, which recoup the costs by raising electricity prices for all consumers in the region. Despite data centers' impact on surrounding communities, contracts between data centers and utility companies are often confidential, and landowners and public officials are regularly required to sign non-disclosure agreements.

However, both Congress and the public currently lack the data necessary to hold these companies accountable.

Senator Warren has been pushing for greater transparency and oversight around how data centers are driving up consumers' electricity costs. The senator opened an investigation into the extent to which Big Tech data centers are driving up consumers' electricity costs in December 2025 and secured a number of new commitments from the companies in January 2026.

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