Federal Agency Plans Mandatory Energy Reporting for All US Data Centers

Quick Facts

• The Energy Information Administration will launch mandatory nationwide data center energy reporting after completing pilot surveys in September 2026
• US data centers consumed 4.4% of total power in 2023 and could reach 12% by 2028, driving a 22% power demand increase in 2025
• Major tech companies including Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft, OpenAI, Oracle, and xAI signed Trump’s Ratepayer Protection Pledge to cover infrastructure upgrade costs

The Energy Information Administration plans to require data centers across the United States to disclose detailed energy usage information. The federal agency told two senators it will develop mandatory surveys after completing pilot programs in September.

EIA Administrator Tristan Abbey said the agency expects to finish two pilot surveys by September. The agency will then begin developing the nationwide mandatory survey covering all US data centers.

The move comes as data center energy consumption surges nationwide. US data centers consumed 4.4% of total power in 2023, according to a December Department of Energy report. That figure could reach 12% by 2028.

Data centers drove a 22% power demand increase in 2025 and are set to triple consumption by 2030. Google’s data centers alone doubled their power use between 2020 and 2024.

Pilot Program Details

The EIA identified 196 companies operating data centers across Texas, Washington state, and the Northern Virginia-DC region. Each company must report energy use for at least one data center in the targeted areas.

The questionnaire covers energy sources, electricity consumption, site characteristics, server metrics, and cooling systems. Abbey called it “a data exploration exercise to figure out what exactly is going on in this very important part of the economy that we don’t have a lot of visibility into.”

Congressional Pressure

Senators Josh Hawley and Elizabeth Warren sent a formal letter to the EIA on March 26 demanding mandatory annual reporting requirements. The bipartisan pair requested granular data on hourly, annual, and peak energy loads.

“As electricity demand growth continues to accelerate after years of relative stagnation, the lack of reliable, standardized data on large load energy consumption poses significant risks to effective grid planning and oversight,” the senators wrote.

They also demanded disclosure of electricity rates paid by operators, required grid upgrades, upgrade funding sources, and participation in demand response programs.

Industry Response

President Trump brought major tech companies together to sign the Ratepayer Protection Pledge. Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft, OpenAI, Oracle, and xAI agreed to build or buy new generation resources and cover power delivery infrastructure upgrade costs.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission uses a 100% participant funding model requiring large load customers to pay full costs of grid network upgrades. Facilities violating grid laws face civil penalties up to $1 million per day under the proposed GRID Act.

At least four major federal bills targeting data center energy consumption were introduced in 2026. More than 200 bills aimed at regulating data centers were introduced across all 50 states in 2025.

Currently, no legally binding energy standards apply explicitly to private sector data center operations. The federal government recently began data collection to assess scope, scale, and energy demand impacts of the growing sector.

Read more: Feds will require data centers to show their power bills