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Assembly committee advances bill requiring data-center energy reporting aimed at protecting ratepayers
Summary
The Assembly Committee on Utilities and Energy voted to send AB 222, which would require reporting on data-center energy use and direct regulators to limit ratepayer exposure to costs associated with new data-center-driven infrastructure, to the Privacy and Consumer Protection Committee, amid debate over security and competitiveness.
Assemblymember Bauer Kehan, the bill's author, told the Assembly Committee on Utilities and Energy that AB 222 would require better data collection on data-center energy demand and stop residential ratepayers from shouldering costs for new capacity.
"AB 222 is first and foremost a ratepayer protection measure, but it is also a measure that protects consumers from rolling blackouts," Bauer Kehan said, adding the bill is a "very light touch" meant not to block data centers but to ensure infrastructure and costs align with demand.
The bill's core aim is twofold: require accurate, timely information about the electricity needs of data centers for energy planning, and limit cost-shifting to residential ratepayers when new or expanded grid capacity is built to serve those facilities. Eric Masanet, a professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara, told the committee researchers currently lack consistent, empirical data on actual data-center energy use and…
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