Data centers are black boxes, but California wants to change that
California Governor Newsom signed seven bills forcing data centers to disclose energy and water use and cover grid costs.
California Governor Gavin Newsom signed seven bills requiring data center operators to report energy and water use and to bear more of the cost of connecting power-hungry facilities to the grid. AB 1577 requires monthly energy-consumption reporting, while AB 2619 and AB 2469 require water disclosures only when applying for a permit or business license, not year to year. SB 886, AB 2383, and SB 1168 direct the California Public Utilities Commission to create separate power rates so connection costs are not passed to other customers, and AB 2383 also pushes renewable energy. SB 887 removes categorical California Environmental Quality Act exemptions so data centers face environmental review.