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NCSL briefing to Vermont committee flags data‑center energy, water and PFAS challenges
Summary
A National Conference of State Legislators (NCSL) policy specialist told the Senate Natural Resources & Energy Committee that state legislatures are intensifying oversight of data‑center energy and water use (tariffs, reporting, demand‑management and microgrids); industry witnesses warned proposed PFAS/discharge language could create unattainable standards and unintended consequences.
Alex McWard, a senior policy specialist at the National Conference of State Legislators, briefed the committee on state legislative trends for data centers, emphasizing rising energy demand, growing attention to water use, and a patchwork of approaches that states have taken to allocate costs for large electrical loads.
McWard told the committee that data centers “currently account for a little more than 4% of energy consumption in the U.S.,” and cautioned that growth in cloud…
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