H.R. 9019

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 9019 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 9019

To direct the Secretary of Energy to report to Congress on the use of 
electric energy and water by certain data centers, and for other 
purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

May 22, 2026

Mr. Roy introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Energy and Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

A BILL

To direct the Secretary of Energy to report to Congress on the use of 
electric energy and water by certain data centers, and for other 
purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ``Public Oversight of Water and Energy 
Reporting Act'' or the ``POWER Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

Congress finds that the construction and operation of data centers 
should not come at the sacrifice of our nation's water resources or 
valuable farm and ranchland, and the Federal Government should make 
sure it is not subsidizing data centers that would not be viable 
otherwise.

SEC. 3. REPORTS ON USE OF ELECTRIC ENERGY AND WATER BY CERTAIN DATA 
CENTERS.

Not later than the date that is 2 years after the date of enactment 
of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Secretary of Energy shall, in 
consultation with the Administrator of the Environmental Protection 
Agency, submit to Congress a report on the use of electric energy and 
water by covered data centers during the applicable report period, 
which shall include information on--
(1) the amount of water used by each covered data center 
that is provided by a public water system during the applicable 
report period, including--
(A) for a covered data center that recycles and 
reuses the water provided by a public water system, the 
amount of water so provided during the applicable 
report period; and
(B) for a covered data center that is continuously 
provided water by a public water system, the average 
amount of water so provided each day during the 
applicable report period;
(2) the number of covered data centers with respect to 
which the covered data center generates all of the electric 
energy used by that covered data center;
(3) the number of covered data centers that are electric 
consumers; and
(4) the costs associated with the connection of any covered 
data center to the bulk-power system during the applicable 
report period and who paid such costs.

SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.

In this Act:
(1) Bulk-power system.--The term ``bulk-power system'' has 
the meaning given such term in section 215(a) of the Federal 
Power Act (16 U.S.C. 824o(a)).
(2) Covered data center.--The term ``covered data 
center''--
(A) means any qualifying project under Executive 
Order 14318 (90 Fed. Reg. 35385; relating to 
accelerating Federal permitting of data center 
infrastructure); and
(B) does not include any such qualifying project 
that is owned, operated, or maintained by a covered 
agency (as such term is defined in section 834(a)(2) of 
the Carl Levin and Howard P. `Buck' McKeon National 
Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2015 (44 
U.S.C. 3601 note(a)(2))).
(3) Electric consumer.--The term ``electric consumer'' has 
the meaning given such term in section 3 of the Public Utility 
Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 2602).
(4) Public water system.--The term ``public water system'' 
has the meaning given such term in section 1401(4)(A) of the 
Safe Drinking Water Act (42 U.S.C. 300f(4)(A)).
(5) Report period.--The term ``report period'' means--
(A) for an initial report submitted under section 
3, the period of time beginning on the date of 
enactment of this Act and ending on the date (prior to 
submission of the initial report) that the Secretary of 
Energy determines to be appropriate; and
(B) for any subsequent report submitted under 
section 3, a 365-day period ending on the date that the 
Secretary of Energy determines to be appropriate.
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