U.S. Rep. Gabe Vasquez (D-N.M.) on Tuesday announced he had co-sponsored two federal bills aimed at data center transparency. Vasquez signed on as a co-sponsor to the FAIR Data Act, sponsored by Rep. Josh Riley (D-N.Y.), and the Data Center Water and Energy Transparency Act of 2026, sponsored by Rep. Lauren Underwood (D-IL). The FAIR Data Act would shield residential electric customers and small businesses from shouldering increased energy costs related to large data centers. The Data Center Water and Energy Transparency Act of 2026 would require developers to provide state and local governments that have data centers, or are considering them, with information pertaining to energy and water consumption. Companies that don’t comply would face fines of up to $20,000 per day.

Other data center water use news:

• AP News: Here’s all the ways that data center controversies have transformed the midterm elections
• Davis Vanguard (Calif.): Proposition 45 draws fire amid fears of data center environmental exemptions
• Cowboy State Daily (Cheyenne, Wyo.): Prometheus pushes ahead on $32B Wyoming data centers as legal challenge fades
• North County Pipeline: Blog: Supervisors back state bills regulating data centers
• Brookings: Blog: Why data centers are a top issue in the 2026 midterms
• The Sacramento Bee (Calif.): Opinion: Yes on a data center in my backyard. Why? It’s an ideal municipal neighbor