By Reagan Priest | Arizona Capitol Times
Key Points:
- There are no active bills on data center water use
- Business advocates say water is a ‘moot point’
- Environmental groups at least want water reporting requirements
As Arizona lawmakers look to address constituent concerns over data center growth in the state, water usage is increasingly fading from the conversation.
Republican and Democratic legislators introduced 13 bills this session related to data centers, but now that the Legislature has entered crossover week, many of the bills aimed at curbing data center water usage have landed on the cutting room floor.
Those bills, sponsored by Democratic lawmakers, would have limited daily water usage for data centers — many of which rely on large amounts of water to keep the technology and facilities cool.
Gov. Katie Hobbs proposed imposing a water user fee on data centers as part of her executive budget, saying a fee of $0.1 per gallon could raise $6.5 million per year that would go toward Colorado River conservation.
