An act to add Sections 25245, 25246, and 25247 to the Public Resources Code, relating to energy.
AB 1577 would require California’s Energy Commission to create a reporting system for data centers and to collect detailed operational and energy-use information from data center owners. Covered facilities would have to report information such as location, size, power usage effectiveness, onsite generation, fuel use, energy storage, demand flexibility participation, waste heat reuse, refrigerants, and cooling degree days when the facility is energized and after substantive changes, with additional monthly reporting after energization. The commission would then publish the data annually in anonymized, aggregated form.
The bill also requires data center owners or developers seeking discretionary permits, entitlements, or land use approvals to provide local agencies with projected annual energy use, water use, potable water use, onsite generation, and sound levels. Local agencies may use that information for land use planning, infrastructure planning, energy and water supply assessment, and environmental review. Beginning with the 2029 Integrated Energy Policy Report, the Energy Commission would also have to include an assessment of data center electrical load trends, including future load projections, potential peak demand, and recommendations to reduce impacts on grid capacity, reliability, and greenhouse gas emissions.
In state law terms, AB 1577 adds new Public Resources Code sections governing data center reporting and disclosure limits. It creates a state-mandated local program by imposing new information-collection duties on local permitting agencies, but the bill states that no reimbursement is required because local agencies may recover costs through fees or assessments. It also includes confidentiality provisions barring disclosure of information in a way that would identify a specific data center customer or reveal customer energy consumption data, while preserving other legal disclosure requirements and trade secret protections.
The overall sentiment reflected in the vote history appears generally supportive but not unanimous. The bill advanced out of committee on majority votes and was amended as it moved through the process, suggesting broad interest in improving visibility into data center energy and water impacts. At the same time, the need for confidentiality findings and the inclusion of customer-data protections indicate sensitivity around proprietary information and public access.
The main points of contention are likely the scope and burden of the reporting requirements, the privacy of customer-specific energy data, and the added workload for local agencies and data center operators. Supporters appear focused on grid planning, environmental review, and transparency around a rapidly growing sector, while any opposition likely centers on administrative costs, potential exposure of proprietary operational details, and whether the reporting obligations are too expansive.
AB 1577 would add new reporting and planning requirements to the Public Resources Code for large data centers, affecting the Energy Commission, local land use agencies, and data center owners/developers. It would require monthly and event-based reporting to the state, permit-stage disclosures to local agencies, annual public aggregation of the data, and a new data-center load analysis in future Integrated Energy Policy Reports. The bill also creates confidentiality protections for customer-specific information and declares the measure a state-mandated local program without reimbursement.
The bill appears to have received cautious but meaningful support in committee, advancing on majority votes and being amended multiple times. The available vote history suggests legislators generally agreed with the need for more information on data center energy and water use, but the amendments and confidentiality provisions indicate an effort to balance transparency with industry privacy concerns. No committee transcript was provided, so the sentiment can only be inferred from the bill’s movement and vote margins.
The most likely areas of contention are the breadth of the reporting obligations, the administrative burden on data center operators and local agencies, and the bill’s treatment of confidential business information. Data center operators may object to monthly reporting of detailed operational metrics, while local agencies may be concerned about the new permit-review duties. Privacy and trade secret protections are also central, because the bill restricts disclosure of identifiable customer energy data while still requiring public aggregation of the information.