Title 10, Armed ForcesRelease 119-110

§2921 Energy Efficiency Targets for Data Centers

Title 10 › Subtitle A — General Military Law › PART IV — SERVICE, SUPPLY, AND PROPERTY › CHAPTER 173 — ENERGY SECURITY › SUBCHAPTER I — ENERGY SECURITY ACTIVITIES › § 2921

Last updated Sep 22, 2026|Official source

Summary

The Secretary of Defense must set energy and water efficiency goals for the Department’s biggest data centers. For each covered data center the Secretary must set targets for power use (PUE), water use (WUE), and any other energy or water efficiency or resiliency goals that fit the center’s location and needs. The Secretary must also look for renewable or clean energy options, like batteries, and point out any laws or rules that block meeting those targets. These targets must match guidance from the Secretary of Energy. A "covered data center" is one of the 50 DoD centers with the highest yearly power use and that existed before the law took effect. For any DoD data center started on or after the date this law was enacted, the Secretary must require standards for energy, water, and resiliency (including PUE and WUE) based on location, resiliency, and industry and federal best practices. The Secretary can waive those rules if doing so is needed for national security, but must notify the House Armed Services Committee and explain why.

Full Legal Text

Title 10, §2921

Armed Forces, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)Covered Data Centers.—
(1)For each covered data center, the Secretary of Defense shall—
(A)develop a power usage effectiveness target for the data center, based on location, resiliency, industry standards, and best practices;
(B)develop a water usage effectiveness target for the data center, based on location, resiliency, industry standards, and best practices;
(C)develop other energy efficiency or water usage targets for the data center based on industry standards and best practices, as applicable to meet energy efficiency and resiliency goals;
(D)identify potential renewable or clean energy resources, or related technologies such as advanced battery storage capacity, to enhance resiliency at the data center, including potential renewable or clean energy purchase targets based on the location of the data center; and
(E)identify any statutory, regulatory, or policy barriers to meeting any target under any of subparagraphs (A) through (C).
(2)The Secretary of Defense shall ensure that targets developed under paragraph (1) are consistent with guidance issued by the Secretary of Energy.
(3)In this subsection, the term “covered data center” means a data center of the Department of Defense that—
(A)is one of the 50 data centers of the Department with the highest annual power usage rates; and
(B)has been established before the date of the enactment of this section.
(b)New Data Centers.—
(1)Except as provided in paragraph (2), in the case of any Department of Defense data center established on or after the date of the enactment of this section, the Secretary of Defense shall establish energy, water usage, and resiliency-related standards that the data center shall be required to meet based on location, resiliency, industry and Federal standards, and best practices. Such standards shall include—
(A)power usage effectiveness standards;
(B)water usage effectiveness standards; and
(C)any other energy or resiliency standards the Secretary determines are appropriate.
(2)The Secretary may waive the requirement for a Department data center established on or after the date of the enactment of this section to meet the standards established under paragraph (1) if the Secretary—
(A)determines that such waiver is in the national security interest of the United States; and
(B)submits to the Committee on Armed Services of the House of Representatives notice of such waiver and the reasons for such waiver.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

References in Text

The date of the enactment of this section, referred to in subsecs. (a)(3)(B) and (b), is the date of enactment of Pub. L. 117–81, which was approved Dec. 27, 2021.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

10 U.S.C. § 2921

Title 10, Armed Forces

Last Updated

Sep 22, 2026

Release point: 119-110