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Industry Tracker · AI Laws by State

Data Center AI Laws by State — 20 Published AI Bills Across 7 States

20 bills across 7 states — including 2 moratorium bills and 3 energy disclosure bills. As AI training and inference drive up data center power and water demand, states are responding with cost-allocation rules, siting and noise assessments, water-use disclosure and, in a few proposals, outright moratoriums. Virginia, home to the world's largest data center market, enacted several data center laws in 2026, and South Dakota enacted its "Data Center Bill of Rights for Citizens."

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Where the projects are: the map of U.S. data center projects on Data Center Census, our sister site, with power, water and local rules for each.

20 Total Bills
7 States

In short

We track 20 AI data center bills across 7 states, including 2 moratorium bills and 3 energy/disclosure bills. Most activity is in permitting, energy reporting, and water-use disclosure. Use the tracker for state-by-state status, or the compliance checklist for must-do items.

Open the tracker → Compliance checklist Enacted laws
0 enacted laws across 0 states regulating AI in Data Centers

Data Centers AI Compliance FAQ

  • Yes, mostly aimed at who pays for grid upgrades. South Dakota's SB 135 (signed March 30, 2026) requires electricity providers to set separate terms of service for data centers with a peak demand of 10 megawatts or more and to have them reimburse the costs fairly attributed to them. Virginia's HB 1393 (2026 Acts of Assembly, Chapter 1123) directs Dominion Energy Virginia to propose allocating certain capacity and distribution costs to its customer class for 25-megawatt-plus, high-load-factor customers.
  • Virginia's HB 496 (Chapter 623) requires applicants for a new data center to disclose its expected water use before rezoning or special-use approval, and SB 553 (Chapter 896, effective January 1, 2027) requires water suppliers to report the volume they provide to data centers. South Dakota's SB 135 requires data center operators to notify local water providers of projected consumption before operating and to file semi-annual water-use reports.
  • Bills signed in 2026 include HB 153 and SB 94 (Chapters 567 and 568, effective July 1, 2026), which require localities to obtain a site assessment of a high energy use facility's sound profile on homes and schools within 500 feet before approving a rezoning or special-use permit; HB 496 (water-use disclosure); SB 553 (water-supplier reporting); HB 284 (Chapter 377, electric demand flexibility programs); and HB 1393 (cost allocation for large customers). HB 1515, a local moratorium bill, was continued to 2027.
  • No state legislature has enacted one. Maine's LD 307, which would have barred approvals for data centers of 20 megawatts or more until November 1, 2027, was vetoed on April 24, 2026, and the veto was sustained on April 29. Moratorium bills in Georgia, Maryland, Minnesota, Oklahoma and Vermont ended without passage when their sessions closed. Many cities and counties have adopted local pauses.
  • Yes. S. 4214, the Artificial Intelligence Data Center Moratorium Act, was introduced by Sen. Bernie Sanders on March 25, 2026, and an identical House bill, H.R. 9442, by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on June 24, 2026. It would bar construction or upgrading of AI data centers until Congress passes laws meeting conditions listed in the bill. Neither bill has had committee action.

Data Centers AI Compliance Checklist

  • Check whether the site's state defines a data center by peak load (for example 10 MW in South Dakota) and what cost-allocation terms apply (S.D. SB 135 and HB 1038 (2026))
  • Prepare a water-use disclosure for rezoning or special-use applications in Virginia (Va. HB 496, 2026 Acts ch. 623)
  • Commission a sound-profile site assessment for Virginia facilities near homes or schools (Va. HB 153 / SB 94, 2026 Acts chs. 567-568)
  • Check for local moratoriums before filing land-use applications (City and county ordinances)
  • Monitor federal S. 4214 / H.R. 9442 for committee action (119th Congress)

Data Centers AI Bills (0 tagged, 20 in tracker)

No bills found No Data Centers published AI bills yet. Check back soon as new legislation is added daily.

AI Regulation in the Data Centers Industry

State legislatures across the United States are actively developing artificial intelligence regulations that directly affect Data Centers companies and practitioners. These laws address a wide range of concerns including algorithmic discrimination, automated decision-making, data privacy, consumer transparency, and the use of high-risk AI systems that can materially affect individuals' lives. As of 2026, 0 states have introduced or enacted legislation with direct implications for Data Centers.

Compliance requirements vary significantly by state, making it essential for Data Centers legal and compliance teams to track both enacted laws and pending bills. Key obligations may include conducting algorithmic impact assessments, providing consumer disclosures when AI is used in consequential decisions, implementing risk management programs, and ensuring human-in-the-loop oversight for high-stakes outcomes. Penalties for non-compliance can be substantial — see our Penalty Tracker for details by state.

To assess your organization's specific compliance obligations under current and upcoming Data Centers AI regulations, use our Am I Affected? tool. For upcoming enforcement dates, visit the Deadlines page or the Deadline Calendar. Use the Bill Comparator to analyze differences between state laws side-by-side.

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