Washington data center and energy laws

What Washington has enacted on data center and energy, what each law requires, and what the bills still moving would do. Washington is one of 29 states that enacted a data center and energy law in the 2025 and 2026 sessions.

8 new Washington laws take effect in 2027

Bills in scope
7bills in scope
Past committee
2past committee
Most recent action
1 April 2026most recent action

Data center and energy laws enacted in Washington

One data center and energy law enacted in the Washington Legislature in the 2025 and 2026 sessions, newest first. Each links to the legislature's own page.

  • SB 6231Removing a tax exemption for the replacement of equipment for data centers.Enacted 1 April 2026

    What it requires: Qualifying businesses and qualifying tenants must no longer receive exemptions for replacement server equipment in data centers. The exemption for replacement server equipment is eliminated effective July 1, 2026. New exemption certificates for rural county data centers cannot be issued after July 1, 2036, and for urban county data centers after July 1, 2028.

    Tax incentives and clawbacks

Data center and energy in Washington, by topic

Data center and energy bills in Washington

The bills not yet law, furthest along first, with what each would do.

1Enacted

1Past committee

5Introduced or inactive

7 bills in scope

Past committee

1

HB 2515Addressing emerging large energy use facilities.Floor vote

What it would do: Establishes requirements for data centers and similar large energy facilities, including mandatory utility tariffs with 10-year contracts, full cost recovery, demand response participation, sustainability reporting, renewable energy requirements starting 2031, and a $0.005 per kilowatt-hour fee deposited into an account for energy assistance and higher education programs.

Introduced or inactive

5

HB 2655Providing a retail sales and use tax exemption for the construction and equipping of new data centers located in a county east of the Cascades that borders another state and has a population of at least 500,000.In committee

What it would do: Exempts qualifying businesses and tenants from retail sales and use taxes on eligible server equipment and power infrastructure installed in new data centers located in counties east of the Cascades that border another state and have a population of at least 500,000, subject to employment and sustainability requirements.

HB 2708Removing a tax exemption for the replacement of equipment for data centers.In committee

What it would do: Removes the exemption for replacement server equipment in data centers by eliminating language allowing replacement equipment purchases under RCW 82.08.986 and 82.08.9861, effective July 1, 2026.

HB 2502Improving local government funding by removing certain sales and use tax exemptions.In committee

What it would do: Removes state sales and use tax exemptions for waste vegetable oil biodiesel production, motion picture production equipment and services, computer data center equipment, and aerospace development equipment. Exemptions now apply only to state base rate, not local sales taxes.

SB 6121Providing electricity service to large energy use facilities.In committee

What it would do: Requires electric utilities to develop model tariffs for large energy use facilities (20+ megawatts) that allocate costs directly to those customers, and mandates 10-year contracts between utilities and large energy use facilities beginning January 1, 2028, to prevent cost-shifting to other ratepayers.

HB 2413Ensuring that the clean energy transformation act provides the regulatory certainty to allow investments in new energy generation resources sufficient to meet Washington's energy needs.In committee

What it would do: Amends Washington's clean energy law to allow utilities to use natural gas generation for up to 30 years during declared resource adequacy crises, adjusts penalty multipliers for non-compliance, and expands exemption criteria for utilities unable to meet renewable energy standards.

Bill titles link to the Washington Legislature's own page.

What LawSignals covers

What counts as data center and energy legislation

In scope: Large-load tariffs and cost allocation; siting, zoning and permitting; tax incentives and clawbacks; on-site and co-located generation; water, cooling and emissions; and grid reliability and load flexibility.

Questions

Does Washington have a data center and energy law?

Yes. Washington enacted 1 data center and energy law in the 2025 and 2026 sessions, among them SB 6231. Each is listed on this page with what it requires.

Which data center and energy bills are moving in Washington?

1 bill not yet law has passed a committee or a chamber, the furthest along HB 2515 (floor vote).

What does Washington legislate on most in data center and energy?

Tax incentives and clawbacks (4 bills), Large-load tariffs and cost allocation (2 bills) and Siting, zoning and permitting (1 bill).

Are these summaries reviewed by a lawyer?

No. Which bills count as Data center and energy bills, and the line on what each law requires or each bill would do, are drafted by software from the bill's own text and not reviewed by an attorney. Every bill links to the legislature's own record: read the text before relying on it. The list covers bills from the 2025 and 2026 sessions.

Other practice areas in Washington

Data center and energy legislation in other jurisdictions

49 more currently hold bills in this tracker

Know when Washington's data center and energy law changes

An alert when a bill moves, and one report a month on what changed in every state and Congress.

Track data center and energy laws freeAbout the Data Centers and Energy Load Tracker