Republican U.S. Rep. Chip Roy of Texas filed legislation Friday requiring the Department of Energy to track and report water and energy consumption by large-scale data centers receiving federal support or expedited permitting under a Trump administration executive order.
The Public Oversight of Water and Energy Reporting (POWER) Act would mandate the DOE to report to Congress within two years of enactment and then annually on the resource consumption of data centers qualifying for benefits under Executive Order 14318. That executive order, signed in July 2025, accelerates federal permitting for AI data centers requiring more than 100 megawatts of electrical load.
The bill requires the DOE, in consultation with the Environmental Protection Agency, to collect detailed information on water consumption by covered data centers that draw from public water systems. The legislation distinguishes between data centers using closed-loop systems that recycle water and those using open-loop systems that continuously draw fresh water from municipal supplies.
For facilities with closed-loop recycling, the DOE must report the total amount of water provided during each reporting period. For those continuously supplied by public water systems, the department must calculate and report average daily water consumption.
On the energy side, the bill mandates reporting on how many covered data centers generate their own electricity versus drawing power from the grid. For those connecting to the bulk-power system, the DOE must disclose the costs associated with grid connection and identify who paid those costs—the data center operator, ratepayers, or federal subsidies.
The reporting requirement excludes data centers owned, operated, or maintained by federal agencies covered under the 2015 National Defense Authorization Act.
“As data centers spring up across the country, we need to be mindful of our water and energy resources,” Roy said in a statement. “States like Texas have been enduring extreme drought conditions, and as we build out energy intensive data center infrastructure, we must have a clear picture of how much water and energy these projects are consuming. The Public Oversight of Water and Energy Reporting (POWER) Act ensures the Department of Energy collects an honest accounting of exactly how much water and energy these projects will use.”
The number of data center projects around Texas is skyrocketing—oftentimes to opposition from local residents because of their large energy use and unknown water consumption.
The bill claims 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.”
Executive Order 14318 was one of three AI-related executive orders issued in July 2025 as part of the administration’s AI Action Plan to boost U.S. competitiveness by cutting regulations and accelerating data center construction. The order directs federal agencies to streamline environmental reviews under the National Environmental Policy Act and offers loans, grants, and tax incentives for qualifying projects.
The POWER Act would provide transparency into the resource demands of federally supported data center projects as concerns grow about their impact on electricity grids and water supplies in states experiencing drought conditions.
