Utilities, Utility Districts

Plain English Breakdown

The official source material did not provide specific details on how existing data centers before January 1, 2027 will be impacted by this legislation.

Data Center Registration and Reporting Requirements

This bill requires large data centers in Tennessee to register with the state's utility commission and report their electricity and water usage.

What This Bill Does

• Requires data centers with power capacity over 20 megawatts to register with the Tennessee Public Utility Commission starting January 1, 2027.
• Specifies that owners or operators must provide detailed information about the data center's location, contact details, and utility usage when registering.
• Requiring utilities providing services to registered data centers to report their electricity and water use monthly.
• Requires the commission to compile and publish reports on data center energy and water consumption on its website.
• Allows the commission to impose fines up to $25,000 for non-compliance with registration or reporting requirements.

Who It Names or Affects

• Data centers in Tennessee that use more than 20 megawatts of power
• Electric and water utilities serving data centers

Terms To Know

Data center

A facility housing computer servers, storage, and networking equipment to store, process, and distribute data.

Megawatt (MW)

A unit of power equal to one million watts

Limits and Unknowns

• The bill does not specify what happens if a data center fails to register or report.
• It is unclear how the new rules will impact existing data centers before January 1, 2027.

Official Summary Text

Beginning January 1, 2027,
this bill prohibits
a person
from
operat
ing
a data center in this state unless the data center is registered with the Tennessee public utility commission
("commission"). As used in this bill, a
"
d
ata center" means a privately owned and operated physical facility housing computer servers, storage, and networking equipment to store, process, and distribute data and applications, and that has a power capacity of more than
20
megawatts
.

REGISTRATION

In order to register a data center,
this bill requires
the owner or operator of the data center
to
provide
all of
the following information to the executive director for the commission, in a form prescribed by the commission:



The data center's physical address
.


The name, mailing address, telephone number, and email address of the person having responsible charge for the data center's operation
.


An approximation of the data center's power capacity
.


The name of each electric utility and water utility that provides service to the data center
.


The number of persons employed to work on-site at the data center
.


Any additional information required by the commission by rule.

This bill requires the
owner or operator of a data center
to
notify the executive director of a change in any information provided
above

within 30
days of the change.

NOTIFICATION TO UTILITIES

Upon receipt of a complete registration for a data center,
this bill requires
the executive director
to
notify each electric utility and water utility providing service to the data center that the utility must report to the executive director the amount of electricity or water, as applicable, that it provided to the data center during the immediately prece
ding billing period.
A
n electric utility or water utility
must
comply with
such r
eporting requirements.
Such
reports must be provided to the executive
director within
30
days of the end of each billing cycle during which the electric utility or water utility provides service to the data center.

CESSATION OF OPERATIONS

This bill requires the
owner or operator of a data center
to
notify the executive director for the commission within
30
days of cessation of operation of the data center. A registration is valid until the executive director receives notice of cessation of operation of the data center. Upon receipt of a notice of cessation of operation of a data center, the executive dir
ector shall notify each electric utility and water utility providing service to the data center that the reporting requirements will cease with regard to that data center immediately following submi
ssion of the report for the final billing period during which the data center was operational.

STATEMENT OF SERVICE RATES

This bill requires e
ach electric utility and water utility that submits reports
under this bill,
and that is not required to disclose its service rates to the commission by another law,
to
provide the executive director for the commission with a statement of its service rates, identified by month, for the
12
months prior to receipt of a notice to initiate reporting under
this bill
and for each month thereafter until the electric utility or water utility is no longer required to submit reports pursuant to
t
his bill.

MONTHLY REPORTS

This bill requires t
he executive director for the commission, or the executive director's designee,
to
compile the data it receives from
submitted
reports, and
submitted
statements of service rates, into monthly reports that clearly state the most recently reported electricity and water use of each data center in this state and the service rates charged by each electric utility and water utility that provides service to
data centers in this state.
T
he executive director
must
publish and maintain the repor
ts required by this
bill
on the commission's website.

PENALTIES

This bill authorizes t
he commission
to
administratively assess a civil penalty of no more than $1,000 per day up to a maximum of $25,000 if the owner or operator of a data center fails, without good cause, to timely register or to timely update, correct, or otherwise modify their registration
statement.

In the chancery court of Davidson County, the commission may seek injunctive relief to prevent the owner or operator of a data center from engaging in any continuing violation of this
bill.

RULEMAKING

This bill authorizes

t
he commission
to
promulgate rules to effectuate this
bill.

Current Bill Text

SENATE BILL 1682
By Lamar

HOUSE BILL 2061
By Towns
HB2061
011370
- 1 -

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 5;
Title 6; Title 7; Title 10; Title 62; Title 65; Title 68
and Title 69, relative to data centers.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE:
SECTION 1. Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 65, Chapter 4, is amended by adding
the following as a new part:
65-4-601.
As used in this part:
(1) "Commission" means the Tennessee public utility commission,
created under § 65-1-101;
(2) "Data center" means a privately owned and operated physical facility
housing computer servers, storage, and networking equipment to store, process,
and distribute data and applications, and that has a power capacity of more than
twenty megawatts (20 MW);
(3) "Electric utility" means:
(A) A utility, as defined in in § 7-51-2301, that provides electric
service to customers; and
(B) A public utility that provides electric service to customers; and
(4) "Water utility" means:
(A) A utility, as defined in § 7-51-2301, that provides water
service to customers; and
(B) A public utility that provides water service to customers.
65-4-602.

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(a) Beginning January 1, 2027, a person shall not operate a data center in this
state unless the data center is registered with the commission pursuant to subsection
(b).
(b) In order to register a data center, the owner or operator of the data center
shall provide the following information to the executive director for the commission, in a
form prescribed by the commission:
(1) The data center's physical address;
(2) The name, mailing address, telephone number, and email address of
the person having responsible charge for the data center's operation;
(3) An approximation of the data center's power capacity;
(4) The name of each electric utility and water utility that provides service
to the data center;
(5) The number of persons employed to work on-site at the data center;
and
(6) Any additional information required by the commission by rule.
(c) The owner or operator of a data center shall notify the executive director of a
change in any information provided pursuant to subsection (b) within thirty (30) days of
the change.
(d) Upon receipt of a complete registration for a data center, the executive
director shall notify each electric utility and water utility providing service to the data
center that the utility must report to the executive director the amount of electricity or
water, as applicable, that it provided to the data center during the immediately preceding
billing period. Notwithstanding a law to the contrary, an electric utility or water utility
shall comply with the reporting requirements of this subsection (d). The reports required
by this subsection (d) must be provided to the executive director within thirty (30) days of

- 3 - 011370

the end of each billing cycle during which the electric utility or water utility provides
service to the data center.
(e) The owner or operator of a data center shall notify the executive director for
the commission within thirty (30) days of cessation of operation of the data center. A
registration under subsection (b) is valid until the executive director receives notice of
cessation of operation of the data center. Upon receipt of a notice of cessation of
operation of a data center, the executive director shall notify each electric utility and
water utility providing service to the data center that the reporting requirements of
subsection (d) will cease with regard to that data center immediately following
submission of the report for the final billing period during which the data center was
operational.
65-4-603.
Each electric utility and water utility that submits reports pursuant to § 65-4-
602(d), and that is not required to disclose its service rates to the commission by another
law, shall provide the executive director for the commission with a statement of its
service rates, identified by month, for the twelve (12) months prior to receipt of a notice
to initiate reporting under § 65-4-602(d) and for each month thereafter until the electric
utility or water utility is no longer required to submit reports pursuant to § 65-4-602(d).
65-4-604.
The executive director for the commission, or the executive director's designee,
shall compile the data it receives from reports submitted pursuant to § 65-4-602(d), and
statements of service rates submitted pursuant to § 65-4-603 or another law, into
monthly reports that clearly state the most recently reported electricity and water use of
each data center in this state and the service rates charged by each electric utility and
water utility that provides service to data centers in this state. Notwithstanding a law to

- 4 - 011370

the contrary, the executive director shall publish and maintain the reports required by
this section on the commission's website.
65-4-605.
(a) The commission may administratively assess a civil penalty of not more than
one thousand dollars ($1,000) per day up to a maximum of twenty-five thousand dollars
($25,000) if the owner or operator of a data center fails, without good cause, to timely
register or to timely update, correct, or otherwise modify their registration statement as
required by § 65-4-602.
(b) In the chancery court of Davidson County, the commission may seek
injunctive relief to prevent the owner or operator of a data center from engaging in any
continuing violation of this part.
SECTION 2. The Tennessee public utility commission may promulgate rules to
effectuate this act. The rules must be promulgated in accordance with the Uniform
Administrative Procedures Act, compiled in Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 4, Chapter 5.
SECTION 3. This act takes effect July 1, 2026, the public welfare requiring it.