Clean Cloud Act of 2025

Summary#

The Clean Cloud Act of 2025 would add a new section to the Clean Air Act to track and limit greenhouse gas emissions tied to the electricity used by data centers and cryptomining facilities. A "covered facility" is a data center or cryptomining facility with more than 100 kilowatts of installed information technology nameplate power. The bill requires annual reporting of facility location, owner, electricity use (grid and behind-the-meter), power purchase agreements, and the share of electricity from different generation sources. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), with the Energy Information Administration (EIA), would calculate each covered facility's greenhouse gas emissions intensity in metric tons CO2-equivalent per kilowatt-hour and publish much of the data each year.

The bill also sets regional emissions "baselines" to be published by December 31, 2025, and then reduced each year through 2034, reaching zero in 2035. Beginning January 1, 2026, the EPA would assess fees on electric utilities for the grid electricity consumed by covered facilities that exceed the regional baseline, and on owners of covered facilities for behind-the-meter electricity that exceed the baseline. The fee formula multiplies the kilowatt-hours consumed by an amount (starting at $20 per kWh in the formula) and by how much the facility's emissions intensity exceeds the regional baseline; that per-unit amount increases each year by inflation plus $10 beginning in 2027. Some information is treated as confidential business information. The bill directs how collected fees are used: 3% for administration, 25% for grants to lower residential electricity costs, and 70% for grants or loans to support zero-carbon firm generation and long-duration energy storage. The bill includes rules on leased facilities, certification conditions for grant recipients, and penalties if utilities pass fees to non-covered customers.

What it means for you#

• Owners/operators of data centers and cryptomining facilities: must report detailed annual electricity and sourcing data to the EPA/EIA and may pay fees if their grid or behind-the-meter electricity has a higher greenhouse gas intensity than the regional baseline. Leased spaces meeting the size threshold count as separate covered facilities and tenants are treated as owners. Some facility data must be publicly posted.
• Electric utilities serving covered facilities: must provide annual information to EPA/EIA, may be assessed fees for grid-supplied electricity to covered facilities that exceed regional baselines, and are generally barred from recovering those fees from non-covered customers.
• State, tribal, and local governments and utilities: may be eligible for grants funded by the fees to reduce residential energy costs or to support zero-carbon firm power and long-duration storage projects.
• General public: will have greater public data on where and how data centers and cryptomining facilities get electricity and what their reported emissions intensity is.

Expenses#

• Fees start January 1, 2026. Fees apply to: (1) electric utilities for grid electricity consumed by covered facilities above the regional baseline, and (2) owners of covered facilities for behind-the-meter electricity above the regional baseline.
• Fee calculation (as written): total kilowatt-hours × a dollar amount (specified as $20 per the formula, adjusted upward annually beginning in 2027 by inflation plus $10) × the amount the facility's emissions intensity exceeds the regional baseline.
• The EPA must notify utilities and covered facility owners of assessed fee amounts by January 31 each year, and fees are due by March 31 following the calendar year for which the fee was assessed.
• Funds distribution (starting fiscal year 2028): 3% for program administration, 25% for grants to lower residential consumer energy costs, and 70% for grants/rebates/loans to develop or deploy zero-carbon firm generation and long-duration energy storage.
• The bill specifies certification and clawback rules for recipients of clean firm grants and a penalty equal to twice the improperly passed-through amount if a utility recoups fees from non-covered customers.

Proponents' View#

The bill's stated findings say data centers and proof-of-work cryptomining are growing sources of electricity demand and that the United States lacks transparency about the energy sources powering these facilities. Proponents, as reflected in the bill text, view annual reporting, regional baselines, and fees as tools to increase transparency, discourage high-emissions electricity use by covered facilities, and direct funds toward lowering consumer energy costs and supporting year-round zero-carbon power and long-duration storage.

Opponents' View#

No publicly available information in the bill text or provided metadata describes specific opposition views or arguments against the bill.