Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren and Republican Senator Josh Hawley have called on the Energy Information Administration to require annual reporting on data center energy use. The bipartisan letter, sent on Thursday, aims to address the growing demands of artificial intelligence infrastructure. It highlights concerns over electricity costs for families amid expanding data centers.
In a rare bipartisan effort, Senators Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Josh Hawley of Missouri sent a letter to the Energy Information Administration on Thursday, demanding mandatory annual reporting on data center energy consumption. The move comes as artificial intelligence drives a surge in data center construction across the United States, with companies like Amazon Web Services, Google, Meta, and Microsoft acquiring vast tracts of land for new facilities, as first reported by Wired. Warren and Hawley argued that the data would aid grid planning and help policymakers prevent large firms from driving up electricity costs for American households. Their letter stated that such information 'will support policymaking to prevent large companies from increasing electricity costs for American families.' Data centers require significant land, water, and power to operate, though exact figures often remain undisclosed. A stark example unfolded in Kentucky, where a woman and her mother rejected a $26 million offer from an anonymous 'major artificial intelligence company,' citing opposition to data centers, according to local reports. BloombergNEF forecasts that data center energy demand will more than double by 2035. Separately, on Wednesday, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Senator Bernie Sanders introduced legislation to halt data center construction until safeguards are in place. Sanders described AI and robotics as 'creating the most sweeping technological revolution in the history of humanity,' adding that 'Congress is way behind where it should be in understanding the nature of this revolution and its impacts.' These developments underscore rising scrutiny over the environmental and economic footprint of AI expansion.
