Responsible Data Center Siting Act of 2026

Federal guidance for data center siting

The bill would require the Secretary of Energy to publish best practices for siting data centers. The Secretary would consult with FERC, the Secretary of Defense, and other agencies. The guidance would have to consider electric grid effects (including consumer electricity price changes, transmission buildout needs, available capacity, and connection timelines), water use and availability, water and air quality, ecosystems and emissions (including on-site generation), community impacts like noise, light, and appearance, local workforce and job effects, local tax and economic effects (including State tax incentives), and national security risks such as clustering. The guidance would have to list site characteristics that reduce harms and a list of ideal locations. DOE would have to publish initial guidance not later than one year after enactment and revise it no later than two years after publication and at least once every two years thereafter on the DOE website. The bill would define “data center” by reference to section 453 of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (42 U.S.C. 17112).