To require the Secretary of Energy to conduct a study on the effect of data centers on communities of color and low-income communities, and for other purposes.

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office] [H.R. 7858 Introduced in House (IH)] <DOC> 119th CONGRESS 2d Session H. R. 7858 To require the Secretary of Energy to conduct a study on the effect of data centers on communities of color and low-income communities, and for other purposes. _______________________________________________________________________ IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES March 5, 2026 Mrs. Watson Coleman (for herself, Ms. Tlaib, Ms. Norton, Ms. Lee of Pennsylvania, Mrs. Foushee, Mr. Cohen, Mr. Menendez, Mr. Thanedar, and Mrs. Grijalva) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce _______________________________________________________________________ A BILL To require the Secretary of Energy to conduct a study on the effect of data centers on communities of color and low-income communities, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. This Act may be cited as the ``Data Center Community Impact Act''. SEC. 2. FINDINGS. Congress finds the following: (1) Data centers are a significant and growing source of energy consumption in the United States, accounting for approximately 4.4 percent of total United States electricity use in 2023, with projections estimating growth to between 6.7 percent and 12 percent as demand for computing power and artificial intelligence increases. (2) The energy usage of data centers has tripled over the last decade and is projected to double or triple again by 2028. Water-cooling infrastructure for data centers consumed approximately 17 billion gallons of water in 2023, a figure projected to increase substantially by 2028, while an estimated 211 billion additional gallons of water were used to generate the electricity consumed by data centers. (3) Communities of color, low-income communities, Indian Tribes, and other vulnerable popula