House approves data-center energy and water reporting bill after floor debate

The Pennsylvania House on April 13 passed House Bill 2150, a measure that requires data center facilities to file annual energy and water-use reports, after floor debate about the industry’s rapid growth and impact on local resources. Representative Mullins, the bill’s sponsor, told colleagues that his district has seen an influx of proposals — “9 proposals for hyperscale data center campuses,” including “6 campuses proposed in 1 borough” — and said the bill is intended to give communities and policymakers clear data on how proposals affect the grid, water supplies and local infrastructure.

“Maine simply put, if data centers are approved anywhere in any of our communities, the very least among the many things that must be required of them is transparency,” Mullins said on the floor, urging support for the bill as a regulatory guardrail. Sponsors framed the legislation as a transparency and accountability measure; opponents raised concerns about implementation details and local impacts during the debate.

The House took a roll-call vote on final passage: yeas 133, nays 68. The presiding officer announced that the bill passed the House and that the clerk would present it to the Senate for concurrence.

The measure’s text as read on the floor directs reporting of energy and water use by covered facilities; the transcript does not record technical implementation details or an effective date. The clerk recorded the vote and transmitted the House’s action to the Senate.