In a bipartisan team-up, Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Republican Sen. Josh Hawley are demanding extra transparency relating to the energy use of data centers.
The pair sent a letter to the Energy Information Administration on Thursday, urging the EIA to “set up a compulsory annual reporting requirement for knowledge facilities.” Wired reported the information earlier.
Information facilities have turn into a significant subject of debate, as tech giants like Amazon Net Companies, Google, Meta and Microsoft proceed to buy massive amounts of land to deal with synthetic intelligence knowledge facilities. Whereas some landowners are taking the payouts, others — like a Kentucky girl and her mom, who turned down $26 million to sell their land — are holding out due to their opposition to knowledge facilities.
The purchaser in Kentucky stays nameless, however the landowner informed WLKY they had been described as a “main synthetic intelligence firm.”
Not solely do knowledge facilities want giant plots of land for his or her infrastructure, however in addition they require substantial water and electrical energy to function. The precise quantities are usually not at all times identified, which is why the senators are urging the change.
The collected info would assist with grid planning and “will assist policymaking to forestall giant firms from rising electrical energy prices for American households,” Warren and Hawley’s letter said partly.
BloombergNEF reports that by 2035, the vitality demand for knowledge facilities will greater than double.
On Wednesday, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Bernie Sanders introduced a bill to pause all data center construction till the federal government enacts safeguards.
“AI and robotics are creating essentially the most sweeping technological revolution within the historical past of humanity,” Sanders said in a statement. “The dimensions, scope and velocity of that change is unprecedented. Congress is method behind the place it ought to be in understanding the character of this revolution and its impacts.”
