Newsom signs bills to regulate data center industry, criticizes Trump for inaction

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Set us as preferred SACRAMENTO — California’s growing data center industry will have more oversight after Gov.Gavin Newsom signed seven bills to regulate the industry’s electricity costs and track water consumption.The new laws come amid growing public concerns about environmental and economic impacts of the massive facilities, and are aimed at protecting consumers from growing electricity costs and tracking the centers’ immense energy and water consumption.Newsom on Monday criticized President Trump for dismissing calls to curtail or regulate the facilities and heralding them as “money machines,” even as states and communities across the nation take action to ban or regulate the centers.“While the Trump administration moves toward deregulation, communities are left to deal with the consequences — higher electricity demand, grid constraints, water use, and pollution,” Newsom said in a written statement Monday.

“With these laws, we are ensuring that Californians remain in the driver’s seat — and that those profiting from data centers aren’t doing so at our expense.”Senate Bill 881 by Sen.Steve Padilla (D-Chula Vista) and Assembly Bill 2383 by Assemblymember Rick Chavez Zbur (D-Los Angeles) establish special rules for data centers’ electrical use.

The law orders California Public Utilities Commission to create special requirements and rates for data centers’ use of electricity, including the costs for new power and for infrastructure upgrades.Scores of other states have already passed similar legislation, according to utility groups.Two bills by Assemblymember Diane Papan (D-San Mateo) will require oversight of data center water consumption.One measure will require data center operators, when applying for a business license or permit, to disclose an estimate of their water use and the expecte...