Data centers bill passes Assembly days before session ends

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(The Center Square) – Data center operators would have to submit information about their facility's energy consumption to the state if a newly passed California bill is signed into law.

Assembly Bill 1577, authored by Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer-Kahan, D-San Ramon, mandates that information about energy usage be sent to the California Energy Commission, as well as local government agencies that regulate permitting. The bill passed 48-11 Thursday in the Assembly and now goes to Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom's desk.

The passage came as the Legislature works to pass bills through Monday, the final day of the 2026 session.

Some of the information on data centers that would have to be sent to various agencies include anticipated on-site electrical generation and consumption, electrical load and power usage effectiveness, according to a legislative analysis.

“This is yet another bill that ensures that data centers here in California work not just for the companies that are building them, but the constituents,” Bauer-Kahan said on the Assembly floor on Thursday. “This is a transparency bill on energy. It would ensure that our rig is able to stand up to the needs of these data centers.”

Those who opposed the bill said they didn’t want to further regulate data centers, fearing that making business more onerous for operators will impede economic progress.

“A lot of these rules and regulations appear to be like trying to protect the horseshoe industry by banning the car,” Assemblymember David Tangipa, R-Fresno, said on the Assembly floor. “The big threat, and the reason why we have to tread lightly on this, is because we know how important it is to modernize.”

Pew Research Center data shows that there are 331 data centers in California, a fraction of the 3,000 such facilities across the United States. According to 2026 numbers from the California Energy Commission, data centers in the Golden State accounted for about 1,000 megawatts of the state’s peak electricity demand, about 2%. That number is expected to jump to 9%, or 4,500 megawatts, by 2040.

The Union of Concerned Scientists released a report earlier this year expressing worries that in California, the unabated growth of data centers could lead to the unreliability of the electrical grid, slow the clean energy transition and increase costs for taxpayers. Another report from the Legislative Analyst’s Office, issued in January 2025, shows that California’s ratepayers pay among the highest electricity rates in the country, driven in large part by high rates charged by the state’s three privately-owned utility companies.

“I want to make sure we’re doing it the right way,” Assemblymember Esmeralda Soria, D-Fresno, said on the Assembly floor on Thursday. “As someone who represents some of the most impoverished communities, I want to make sure that when these investments come into my community, that they are doing it right.”

According to previous reporting by The Center Square, there is little public support for the construction of new data centers. A recent Marquette poll showed that 78% of registered voters in Wisconsin believed the costs of data centers outweighed the benefits. That’s an increase from 76% of voters in a July 2026 poll, and significantly up from the October 2025 numbers of 55%.

Members of the Assembly said on Thursday that the Legislature needs to act on ways to allow innovation and technological development responsibly without overregulation.

“So we can’t kill the golden goose,” Assemblymember Carl DeMaio, R-San Diego, said on the floor during debate. “But we want to make sure the golden goose doesn’t crap in the henhouse. We’ve got to make sure these are sustainable operations.”