Warren & Hawley Demand EIA Disclose Data Centers' True Electricity Consumption

A rare bipartisan alliance is demanding transparency on the hidden energy costs of America's data center boom. Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren and Republican Senator Josh Hawley have sent a joint letter to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), pressing the agency to begin collecting and publishing comprehensive, annual energy-use data from data centers nationwide. They argue this information is essential for accurate grid planning and for crafting policies to prevent large tech companies from driving up electricity costs for American households.

The push comes amid growing political and public anxiety over the sprawling expansion of data centers, particularly in states like Virginia and Georgia. Voter concerns about how these facilities' massive energy demands could inflate consumer bills have already begun to influence local and state-level politics. The senators' letter, obtained by WIRED, frames the lack of public data as a critical blind spot for both infrastructure planning and consumer protection.

This move signals mounting regulatory scrutiny on the tech and cloud infrastructure sector's energy footprint. Hawley has previously co-sponsored legislation with Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal that would mandate data center energy disclosures, indicating a sustained, cross-aisle effort to bring the industry's power consumption into the open. The pressure on the EIA to act highlights a key tension between national infrastructure needs, corporate growth, and the financial impact on ordinary ratepayers.