H.R. 9372

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 9372 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 9372

To direct the Director of the National Institute of Standards and 
Technology to develop best practices for measuring data center energy 
use, study data availability for the purpose of improving energy demand 
forecasting capabilities, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

June 18, 2026

Mr. Subramanyam (for himself, Mr. Obernolte, and Mrs. Foushee) 
introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
Science, Space, and Technology

_______________________________________________________________________

A BILL

To direct the Director of the National Institute of Standards and 
Technology to develop best practices for measuring data center energy 
use, study data availability for the purpose of improving energy demand 
forecasting capabilities, 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 ``Data Infrastructure Energy 
Measurement and Standards Act''.

SEC. 2. ACTIVITIES TO SUPPORT METROLOGY OF DATA CENTER ENERGY USE.

(a) Best Practices for Measuring Data Center Energy Use.--The 
Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology, in 
consultation with the Secretary of Energy, shall carry out a 
measurement research program (in this section referred to as the 
``program'') to inform the development or improvement of best 
practices, definitions, methodologies, procedures, and technical 
standards for the measurement of energy and water use by data centers 
and the workloads of such centers, including the measurement of energy 
and water use resulting from training and inference of artificial 
intelligence models or other compute intensive information processes.
(b) Activities.--In carrying out the program, the Director shall 
carry out the following:
(1) Conduct research and testing to improve the accuracy, 
efficacy, timeliness, and reliability of the measurement of 
energy and water use by data centers and the workloads of such 
centers.
(2) Develop or identify best practices, guidelines, 
definitions, methodologies, and procedures for measuring and 
reporting energy and water use by data centers and the 
workloads of such centers, taking into consideration the 
following:
(A) The type of workload and aggregate energy and 
water use by a given data center, including complex 
artificial intelligence workloads.
(B) Temporal power consumption load profiles 
associated with data center energy use accounting for 
behind-the-meter generation, front-of-meter generation, 
and energy generation not provided to the electric grid 
on a facility-level basis.
(C) Varying information technology system, power 
chain, and cooling configurations, including 
consideration of servers, storage, network, power 
transformation, distribution, and uninterruptible 
supply technologies.
(D) Temporal variations in electricity loads due to 
variations in workloads, technology configurations, and 
data center locations, including local climate and 
resource factors.
(3) Study data needs for relevant research and energy and 
water demand forecasting, and relevant driving factors relating 
to such needs, including an identification of the following:
(A) Existing gaps in the following:
(i) Data collection.
(ii) Data availability from public and non-
public sources.
(iii) Researcher access.
(B) Risks related to the gaps identified in clauses 
(i) through (iii) of subparagraph (A), including the 
reliability of energy and water demand forecasts from 
different stakeholder perspectives.
(4) Support the development of standardized metrics and 
data sharing mechanisms that would help provide information to 
researchers and relevant stakeholders regarding data center 
energy and water use in such a way that promotes improved 
energy and water demand forecasting capabilities.
(5) Coordinate with the Secretary of Energy to carry out 
the following:
(A) Ensure applicable metrics and data are managed, 
stewarded, and archived appropriately, and in 
accordance with the best practices described in 
paragraph (2).
(B) Promote full and open exchange of such metrics 
and data at Federal and State levels, and with 
academia, industry, and other users, as practicable and 
appropriate.
(6) Coordinate with international partners, including 
international standards organizations, to maintain global data 
center energy measurement standards.
(c) Stakeholder Engagement.--In carrying out subsection (b), the 
Director shall seek to engage with and convene representatives of 
industry, academia, nonprofit organizations, standards development 
organizations, civil society groups, and appropriate Federal 
departments and agencies.
(d) Briefings.--Not later than one year after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, and again not later than two years after such 
date, the Director shall brief the Committee on Science, Space, and 
Technology of the House of Representatives and the Committee on 
Commerce, Science, and Transportation and the Committee on Energy and 
Natural Resources of the Senate on the program.
(e) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated to the Director to carry out this section $10,000,000 for 
each of fiscal years 2027 through 2029.
(f) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Artificial intelligence.--The term ``artificial 
intelligence'' has the meaning given such term in section 5002 
of the National Artificial Intelligence Initiative Act of 2020 
(15 U.S.C. 9401).
(2) Artificial intelligence model.--The term ``artificial 
intelligence model'' means a software component of an 
information system that implements artificial intelligence 
technology and uses computational, statistical, or machine-
learning techniques to produce outputs from a defined set of 
inputs.
(3) Behind-the-meter generation.--The term ``behind-the-
meter generation'' means the generation or storage of energy, 
including electricity and fuels consumed in backup and onsite 
generation, using a system that operates on the customer side 
of the applicable utility meter.
(4) Data center.--The term ``data center'' means any 
facility that primarily contains electronic equipment used to 
process, store, or transmit digital information.
(5) Director.--The term ``Director'' means the Director of 
the National Institute of Standards and Technology.
(6) Front-of-meter generation.--The term ``front-of-meter 
generation'' means the generation of energy at a facility 
directly connected to a grid with the primary purpose of 
providing electricity to one or more offsite locations via such 
grid or utility meters with which such facility does not have 
an electrical connection.
(7) Information system.--The term ``information system'' 
has the meaning given such term in section 3502 of title 44, 
United States Code.
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