Clean Cloud Act: Data Centers & Crypto Miners Face New Emission Rules, Steep Fees Starting 2026

The "Clean Cloud Act of 2025" is on the table, and it's got its sights set on the massive energy footprint of data centers and cryptocurrency mining operations. If this passes, starting January 1, 2026, any facility chugging more than 100 kilowatts of power – that’s your big server farms and crypto mining rigs – will need to report detailed energy use and could face hefty fees if their greenhouse gas emissions are too high. The core idea? Nudge these digital giants towards cleaner energy and give us all a clearer picture of their environmental impact.

Lifting the Hood: What's Underneath This Act?

This bill isn't just a suggestion; it's looking to amend the Clean Air Act. First up, it defines a "covered facility" as any data center (as defined in 42 U.S.C. 17112(a), basically any building primarily for housing electronic equipment for digital info) or cryptomining setup using over 100 kilowatts. Think of that as the entry ticket to these new rules. Owners of these places, including federal ones, would have to spill the beans annually to the EPA: where they are, what they do (data or crypto), who owns them, which utility sends them power, how much juice they use, where that juice comes from (solar, wind, grid mix), and any special power purchase deals. Utilities get homework too, reporting on these facilities' consumption and their own energy mix. The EPA then crunches these numbers to figure out the "greenhouse gas emissions intensity" for each facility – basically, how much pollution per unit of energy. And a lot of this info, like location, owner, and those intensity scores, becomes public, though total annual electricity consumption figures are protected as confidential business information (SEC. 3).

The Emissions Squeeze: Baselines and Paying the Piper

Here’s where it gets real. By December 31, 2025, the EPA has to set a "baseline" greenhouse gas emissions intensity for the electricity grid in different regions across the country (based on DOE's National Transmission Needs Study). Starting in 2027, this baseline starts to drop each year – by 11% of the 2026 baseline annually – until it hits zero in 2035 (SEC. 3). The message is clear: get cleaner, or it'll cost you.

From January 1, 2026, if a facility’s emissions intensity (either from grid power or their own on-site generation) is above their region's baseline, fees kick in. The bill states the fee is the product of three things: (1) the facility's total electricity consumption, (2) how much its emissions intensity (pollution per unit of energy) exceeds the regional baseline, and (3) a rate of $20 per kilowatt-hour. This rate itself is set to increase annually with inflation and an additional $10 on top each year (SEC. 3). Taken literally as written in the summary, multiplying these factors could result in an unusual unit for a fee (dollars * mass / energy) or, if interpreted to yield a dollar amount, an astronomically high figure. For instance, if a facility uses a million kilowatt-hours and its emissions intensity is even slightly over the line, this formula could point to a fee in the millions, making it a very significant financial stick. The good news for the truly green? Facilities running entirely on verified zero-carbon electricity are exempt from these fees.

Follow the Money: Where Do These Fees End Up?

So, what happens to all that cash if facilities do have to pay up? The bill (SEC. 3) carves it up three ways:

• 3% goes to the EPA to actually run this whole program.
• 25% is earmarked for grants to states, tribes, cities, and even utilities themselves, with the specific goal of lowering residential electricity costs. So, there's a potential upside for household budgets here.
• The biggest slice, 70%, is set aside for grants, rebates, or low-interest loans to boost research, development, and deployment of zero-carbon electricity generation (specifically the kind that can run reliably, with capacity factors over 70%) and long-duration energy storage (able to discharge for at least 10 hours). This is about investing in the tech we need for a cleaner grid. There's also a requirement: anyone getting these funds for new energy projects has to offer customers a way to voluntarily pay a bit more for that clean power, with that extra money also plowed back into more zero-carbon projects.

The Fine Print: Leases and Utility Bills

A few other key details from SEC. 3: If a company is leasing space for its data center or mining ops, the tenant is considered the owner and is on the hook for these rules if their leased portion meets the 100 kW "covered facility" threshold. And a big one for regular folks: the bill explicitly states that electric utilities cannot pass these new fees onto customers who aren't these "covered facilities." So, your home or small business electric bill shouldn't see a direct surcharge because a local data center got dinged. How watertight that protection is in practice will be something to watch, as costs can sometimes find roundabout ways to surface. The overall aim, though, is to make the polluters pay, not everyone else. Finally, the bill includes a severability clause (SEC. 4), meaning if one part is found unconstitutional, the rest of the law aims to remain in effect.