House File 2447 - Introduced HOUSE FILE 2447 BY GOLDING A BILL FOR An Act relating to water and energy use for data centers, 1 including reporting and tariff requirements, and including 2 effective date provisions. 3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA: 4 TLSB 6777YH (4) 91 sb/js
H.F. 2447 Section 1. NEW SECTION . 455B.280 Water usage at data 1 centers. 2 1. As used in this section: 3 a. “Data center” means the same as defined in section 4 476.59. 5 b. “Water usage effectiveness” means a calculation of a 6 data center’s total water input divided by the total water 7 consumption of the data center’s information technology 8 equipment. 9 2. No later than six months after the effective date of 10 this Act, or, for a data center that has been in operation for 11 at least one year as of the effective date of this Act, no 12 later than three months after the effective date of this Act, 13 or within three months of starting operations for a new data 14 center, and quarterly thereafter, the owner or operator of a 15 data center in the state of Iowa shall prepare and submit a 16 water usage report to the department that contains at least the 17 following information: 18 a. Basic information relating to the data center, including 19 all of the following: 20 (1) The name of the data center. 21 (2) The owner or operator of the data center. 22 (3) The address of the data center. 23 (4) The nature or purpose of the data center. 24 (5) The month and year that the data center commenced 25 operation. 26 b. Information related to water usage at the data center, 27 including all of the following: 28 (1) The total water input in gallons including the 29 respective volumes of water input for specific functions of the 30 data center. 31 (2) The source of water for the data center including a 32 municipal water supply, groundwater, or surface water, and 33 whether water from such sources is potable or reclaimed, and 34 water withdrawal permit numbers. If a data center utilizes 35 -1- LSB 6777YH (4) 91 sb/js 1/ 7
H.F. 2447 more than one water source, the data center shall provide 1 information regarding water usage from each source as a 2 percentage of total water usage. 3 (3) Performance calculations and indicators for the data 4 center regarding water use effectiveness. 5 3. Within thirty days of receiving a water usage report from 6 the owner or operator of a data center pursuant to subsection 7 2, the department shall publish the information on its internet 8 site, and update the information as necessary. 9 4. An owner or operator of a data center that has submitted 10 a water usage report to the department pursuant to subsection 11 2 shall notify the department of any substantial change in 12 operations or technologies at the data center that would 13 require an update to the information provided in the water 14 usage report at least sixty days prior to implementing the 15 change in operations or technologies at the data center. 16 Sec. 2. Section 476.4, subsection 3, Code 2026, is amended 17 by striking the subsection and inserting in lieu thereof the 18 following: 19 3. The commission shall provide for a classification of 20 service for data centers, as defined in section 476.59. The 21 classification of service must be separate and distinct from 22 classification of service for other commercial or industrial 23 retail electricity consumers and have its own tariff schedule. 24 Any tariff schedule adopted by the commission for data centers 25 must meet all of the following requirements: 26 a. Allocate the costs of servicing data centers in a manner 27 that is equal or proportional to the costs of serving the data 28 centers or directly assign the costs of serving a data center 29 to the data center. 30 b. Mitigate the risk of all of the following: 31 (1) Other classes of retail electricity consumers paying 32 unwarranted costs. 33 (2) Shifting the costs, in an unwarranted manner, of 34 serving a data center to other classes of retail electricity 35 -2- LSB 6777YH (4) 91 sb/js 2/ 7
H.F. 2447 consumers, including costs of an electric company to meet 1 load requirements resulting from the provision of electricity 2 service to a data center. 3 c. In deciding whether to approve a proposed tariff schedule 4 of a data center, the commission shall consider whether the 5 rate, charge, or schedule may do any of the following: 6 (1) Result in or have the potential to result in increased 7 costs or unwarranted risks to other retail electricity 8 consumers. 9 (2) Provide for equitable contributions to grid efficiency, 10 reliability, and resiliency benefits. 11 (3) Meet any other conditions the commission may require in 12 the public interest. 13 Sec. 3. Section 476.4, Code 2026, is amended by adding the 14 following new subsection: 15 NEW SUBSECTION . 4. A person shall not construct or expand 16 a data center, as defined in section 476.59, until the tariff 17 required under subsection 3 has been filed by the public 18 utility that is responsible for the service territory where the 19 data center is to be constructed or expanded. 20 Sec. 4. NEW SECTION . 476.59 Energy usage at data centers. 21 1. As used in this section: 22 a. “Data center” means a facility for which all of the 23 following apply: 24 (1) The facility’s primary services are the storage, 25 management, and processing of digital data. 26 (2) The facility is used to house computer and network 27 systems, including associated components such as servers, 28 network equipment and appliances, telecommunications, and 29 data storage systems, systems for monitoring and managing 30 infrastructure performance, internet-related equipment and 31 services, data communications connections, environmental 32 controls, fire protection systems, and security systems and 33 services. 34 b. “Energy reuse factor” means a calculation of waste heat 35 -3- LSB 6777YH (4) 91 sb/js 3/ 7
H.F. 2447 reused divided by total energy consumption. 1 c. “Power usage effectiveness” means a calculation of a 2 data center’s total energy consumption divided by the total 3 energy consumption of the data center’s information technology 4 equipment. 5 d. “Waste heat reused” means any heat that is used or reused 6 outside the boundary of a data center and that replaces, partly 7 or entirely, energy needed outside the boundary of the data 8 center. 9 2. No later than six months after the effective date of 10 this Act, or, for a data center that has been in operation for 11 at least one year as of the effective date of this Act, no 12 later than three months after the effective date of this Act, 13 or within three months of starting operations for a new data 14 center, and quarterly thereafter, the owner or operator of a 15 data center in the state of Iowa shall prepare and submit an 16 energy usage report to the commission that contains at least 17 the following information: 18 a. Basic information relating to the data center, including 19 all of the following: 20 (1) The name of the data center. 21 (2) The owner or operator of the data center. 22 (3) The address of the data center. 23 (4) The nature or purpose of the data center. 24 (5) The month and year that the data center commenced 25 operation. 26 b. Information related to energy usage at the data center, 27 including all of the following: 28 (1) The total energy consumption in kilowatt hours during 29 the reporting period, including the use of electricity, fuels, 30 and other energy sources used for cooling. 31 (2) The name of the electric utility serving the data center 32 and a copy of any electric service agreements between the 33 electric utility and the data center. 34 (3) All on-site power supplies, including any primary power 35 -4- LSB 6777YH (4) 91 sb/js 4/ 7
H.F. 2447 on site and emergency backup power supply, and any permit 1 information, including permit numbers, capacity, tier level, 2 fuel type, total permitted emissions for the data center, and 3 any other relevant information. 4 (4) The total energy consumption in kilowatt hours measured 5 as the value of the combined annual energy consumption at every 6 uninterruptible power system. 7 c. Performance calculations for the data center, including 8 the energy reuse factor and power usage effectiveness. 9 d. Sustainability indicators for the data center, including 10 all of the following: 11 (1) The average set point intake temperature in degrees 12 Fahrenheit, which shall be measured as the average set point 13 temperature in all of the data center’s computer rooms over a 14 twelve-month period. 15 (2) The average waste heat temperature in degrees 16 Fahrenheit, which shall be measured as the temperature of the 17 fluid used to cool any information and communication technology 18 equipment, averaged over a twelve-month period and across every 19 measurement point. Individual waste heat temperature readings 20 shall be measured at the point where heated fluid enters a heat 21 exchanger in the data center’s computer rooms. 22 (3) The amount of waste heat reused in kilowatt hours. 23 e. Any other information deemed necessary by the commission. 24 3. Within thirty days of receiving an energy usage report 25 from the owner or operator of a data center pursuant to 26 subsection 2, the commission shall publish the nonprivileged 27 information on its internet site and update the information as 28 necessary. 29 4. An owner or operator of a data center that has submitted 30 an energy usage report to the commission pursuant to subsection 31 2 shall notify the commission of any substantial change in 32 operations or technologies at the data center that would 33 require an update to the information provided in the energy 34 usage report at least sixty days prior to implementing the 35 -5- LSB 6777YH (4) 91 sb/js 5/ 7
H.F. 2447 change in operations or technologies at the data center. 1 Sec. 5. EFFECTIVE DATE. This Act, being deemed of immediate 2 importance, takes effect upon enactment. 3 EXPLANATION 4 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with 5 the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly. 6 This bill relates to water and energy use for data centers, 7 including reporting and tariff requirements. 8 The bill requires owners or operators of data centers 9 located in Iowa to submit periodic water usage reports to 10 the department of natural resources (department). The bill 11 requires data center owners or operators to submit an initial 12 water usage report within six months after the effective date 13 of the bill if the data center has been in operation for less 14 than one year, within three months of the effective date of 15 the bill if the data center has been in operation for at 16 least one year, or within three months of starting operations 17 for a new data center, and submit updated reports quarterly 18 thereafter. The reports must include identifying information 19 about the data center and certain information regarding water 20 inputs, water sources, and water usage effectiveness. The bill 21 requires the department to publish the reported information on 22 its internet site within 30 days of receipt. The bill also 23 requires a data center to notify the department at least 60 24 days before implementing any substantial change in operations 25 or technologies that would require updating the reported 26 information. 27 The bill requires the Iowa utilities commission (commission) 28 to establish a separate classification of electric service 29 for data centers that is distinct from other commercial or 30 industrial customers and that has its own tariff schedule. The 31 bill specifies that tariffs for data centers must allocate or 32 directly assign costs in proportion to the costs of serving 33 data centers and must mitigate the risk of other customer 34 classes paying unwarranted costs and the risk of shifting, in 35 -6- LSB 6777YH (4) 91 sb/js 6/ 7
H.F. 2447 an unwarranted manner, the costs of serving a data center to 1 other customer classes. 2 The bill requires the commission, when deciding whether 3 to approve a proposed tariff for a data center, to consider 4 whether the proposal may result in or have the potential 5 to result in increased costs or unwarranted risks to other 6 retail consumers, whether the proposal provides for equitable 7 contributions to grid efficiency, reliability, and resiliency 8 benefits, and whether the proposal meets any other conditions 9 the commission may require in the public interest. 10 The bill prohibits the construction or expansion of a data 11 center until the required data center tariff has been filed 12 by the public utility responsible for the applicable service 13 territory. 14 The bill requires owners or operators of data centers 15 located in Iowa to submit periodic energy usage reports to the 16 commission. Data center owners or operators are required to 17 submit energy usage reports to the utilities commission on 18 the same timeline as the water usage reports. The reports 19 must include identifying information about the data center 20 and certain information regarding energy consumption, 21 electric service agreements, and on-site power supplies. 22 The report must also include certain performance metrics 23 and sustainability indicators. The bill provides similar 24 publication requirements for the commission and similar 25 notification of substantial change requirements for data 26 centers regarding energy usage reports as required for water 27 usage reports. 28 The bill strikes provisions relating to rate, charge, rule, 29 and regulation filings made prior to July 4, 1963. The bill 30 takes effect upon enactment. 31 -7- LSB 6777YH (4) 91 sb/js 7/ 7