Data centers use enormous, and growing, amounts of water for cooling. In the last two years, at least two states tried to write laws requiring data centers to report that usage. Neither one produced what its own sponsors promised — and the two failures didn't even fail the same way.
Texas: the mandate that became a survey
In 2023, Texas state representative Armando Walle authored Rider 6 (GAA VIII), directing the Public Utility Commission, the Texas Water Development Board, and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to jointly develop a data reporting mechanism for large power users, including their water use. Walle's own press release called it "a critical early step" [1] — language that, read closely, was already hedging what the rider would actually deliver.
What it delivered: a voluntary survey, not a mandatory disclosure regime, per the PUC's own FAQ on the program [2]. The underlying docket shows the filing history behind it [3].
Rhode Island: the mandate that never left committee
S2776 and its House companion H7331 [4] bundled three things: data center-specific cost allocation, a siting consultation requirement, and a water-use disclosure and planning requirement for facilities of 50 MW or greater.
The Rhode Island PUC's own testimony to the Senate Commerce Committee (March 10, 2026) [5] is the clearest documentary evidence of why this stalled: the bill required data centers to develop a water plan, but created no matching requirement for water suppliers to develop a data-center rate — regulating demand-side planning while leaving the supply-side rate structure untouched. Both bills were held for "further study" and died when the session ended in June 2026, never reaching a floor vote.
Two failure depths, same underlying pattern
Texas got a law passed, then watched it shrink to a voluntary survey. Rhode Island's water provision never survived committee, with the state's own regulator identifying the design flaw likely responsible. Different depths, same conclusion: even where nobody disputes that data-center water use deserves scrutiny, turning that agreement into enforceable, adequately-designed law has failed twice, two different ways.
Sources
Rep. Armando Walle press release — www.wallefortexas.com/press/2026puc
Texas PUC, Energy and Water Use Survey FAQ — www.puc.texas.gov/industry/water/utilities/energy-and-water-use-survey/faq/
Texas PUC docket, Control Number 59281 — interchange.puc.texas.gov/Search/Filings?ControlNumber=59281
Rhode Island Bill H7331 (2026) — legiscan.com/RI/bill/H7331/2026
RI Public Utilities Commission testimony on S2776, Senate Commerce Committee — www.rilegislature.gov/senators/SenateComDocs/2026%20Commerce/S2776%20RI%20Public%20Utilities%20Commission.pdf
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