California data center and energy laws

Data center and energy laws enacted in California

10 data center and energy laws enacted in the California Legislature in the 2025 and 2026 sessions, newest first. Each links to the legislature's own page.

• AB 1577Data centers: reporting.Takes effect 1 January 2027

  What it requires: Owners of data centers must submit specified information to the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission upon energization and monthly thereafter, including electrical load, energy consumption, power usage effectiveness, and fuel consumption. Owners or developers must submit energy consumption and sound level estimates to applicable local agencies when applying for discretionary permits.

  Siting, zoning and permitting, Water, cooling and emissions

• AB 2383Electricity: data centers.Takes effect 1 January 2027

  What it requires: The Public Utilities Commission must establish by January 1, 2028 a separate tariff classification for large energy use facilities. Electrical corporations and load-serving entities receiving service requests from large energy use facilities must ensure tariffs allocate costs proportionally, avoid cost-shifting to other consumers, and meet specified requirements including minimum 10-year contract terms and prohibitions on net metering.

  Large-load tariffs and cost allocation

• AB 2469Data centers: water use disclosures.Takes effect 1 January 2027

  What it requires: Cities, counties, or cities and counties must not approve discretionary or ministerial permits or other entitlements for data center construction or expansion increasing maximum peak water use unless the applicant provides a water supply assessment, water use assessment upon request, water scarcity plan beginning January 1, 2028, projected water use, water efficiency measures, and workforce disclosures, and assumes full cost of required water infrastructure improvements. The Department of Water Resources must recommend a CII water use classification for large consumptive use facilities including data centers by June 30, 2028, and the State Water Resources Control Board must adopt it by December 31, 2029.

  Siting, zoning and permitting, Water, cooling and emissions

• AB 2619Water resources: data centers.Takes effect 1 January 2027

  What it requires: Persons who own or operate data centers must provide water suppliers with estimated water use information before applying for initial city or county business licenses, and must report estimated water use on initial license applications and actual annual water use on renewal applications, all under penalty of perjury. The Department of Water Resources and State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission must develop guidelines and best practices for data center water efficiency by January 1, 2029.

  Water, cooling and emissions

• SB 1168Data centers: rate structures.Takes effect 1 January 2027

  What it requires: The Public Utilities Commission must assess opportunities for rate structures in new or existing proceedings to ensure data centers pay their reasonable share of transmission and distribution costs, pay their proportionate share of load increases and procurements needed to reliably serve their loads, and alleviate cost pressures on residential ratepayers.

  Large-load tariffs and cost allocation

• SB 886California Technology Innovation and Ratepayer Protection Act.Takes effect 1 January 2027

  What it requires: The Public Utilities Commission must establish separate tariffs for interconnection and transmission, distribution, and optional generation services to participating customers (data centers with minimum peak demand not exceeding 25 megawatts) by July 1, 2027. The commission must ensure tariffs prevent cost shifts to nonparticipating customers and require participating customers to prefund at least 10-year generation contracts and participate in demand response programs.

  Large-load tariffs and cost allocation

• SB 887California Environmental Quality Act: environmental leadership development projects: data centers: geothermal powerplant projects.Takes effect 1 January 2027

  What it requires: Projects for development and operation of data centers cannot be exempted from CEQA review. Data center projects may be certified as environmental leadership development projects only if they meet specified conditions including paying full interconnection costs, using zero-carbon energy and storage, recycled water, and entering community benefits agreements. The State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission must develop uniform statewide standards for data center conditions and require regular compliance reporting.

  Siting, zoning and permitting, On-site and co-located generation

• AB 2266Electricity: load-serving entities.Takes effect 1 January 2027

  What it requires: On and after January 1, 2030, the Public Utilities Commission must use the same capacity valuation method when setting resource adequacy and resource procurement obligations for load-serving entities. By January 1, 2030, the commission must consolidate plans submitted by load-serving entities into a single procurement plan and consolidate compliance reporting when feasible.

  Grid reliability and load flexibility

• AB 2476Electricity: integrated resource plans: Department of Water Resources: procurement.Takes effect 1 January 2027

  What it requires: The Department of Water Resources may procure eligible energy resources from pump hydroelectric facilities not exceeding 500 megawatts before January 1, 2035, upon request from the Public Utilities Commission. The bill eliminates the prior requirement that such facilities be directly appropriated state funding before January 1, 2023.

  Grid reliability and load flexibility

• SB 57Electrical corporations: data centers: report.Enacted 11 October 2025

  What it requires: The Public Utilities Commission may assess whether electrical corporation costs associated with new loads from data centers result in cost shifts to other customers. The commission must submit this assessment to relevant legislative policy committees and publicly post it on its website on or before January 1, 2027.

  Large-load tariffs and cost allocation

Data center and energy in California, by topic

• Large-load tariffs and cost allocation

  8 bills, 4 enacted. Enacted in 19 states.

• Water, cooling and emissions

  6 bills, 3 enacted. Enacted in 7 states.

• Siting, zoning and permitting

  3 bills, 3 enacted. Enacted in 8 states.

• Grid reliability and load flexibility

  2 bills, 2 enacted. Enacted in 11 states.

• On-site and co-located generation

  2 bills, 1 enacted. Enacted in 5 states.