California: National leaders and lawmakers celebrate Governor Newsom’s signature on the most comprehensive data center laws in the nation
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Sep 22, 2026

National leaders and lawmakers celebrate Governor Newsom's signature on the most comprehensive data center laws in the nation

SACRAMENTO – Yesterday, Governor Gavin Newsom signed the most comprehensive data center laws in the nation, providing communities more control on water, electricity, and land use. These new laws will help protect California's innovation economy while giving Californians a stronger voice on proposed projects in their communities.

Here's what leaders are saying about the historic legislation:

Senator Jerry McNerney (D-Pleasanton): "Communities across California and the nation are increasingly concerned about skyrocketing utility bills due to the rapid growth of data centers and their energy use. Data centers not only use large amounts of electricity, but they can cause utilities to make infrastructure upgrades to handle the increased power demand. Governor Newsom's signing of my SB 1168 helps ensure that data centers absorb the costs of their energy use and any utility upgrades they require, not ratepayers."

Senator Steve Padilla (D-San Diego): "These are some of the nation's strongest data center ratepayer protections – stopping Big Tech from sticking California families with the bill for their data centers while ensuring all local voices have a say on these projects and they comply with our air, water, and climate standards. Big Tech keeps promising to be good neighbors and these laws now make those promises legally enforceable. No more saying one thing in the White House and doing the opposite in our local communities. I'm incredibly grateful to Governor Newsom for signing these nation-leading protections for ratepayers and our environment into law."

Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer-Kahan (D-Orinda): "Thank you, Governor Newsom, for signing AB 1577. AB 1577 is a huge step forward in prioritizing California's ratepayers and helping California move toward a more sustainable energy future. This will give us the transparency needed for the state and local communities to be in control of the future here in California. It allows us to understand the growing energy demands of data centers, the impact on local communities, plan for that growth, and protect California's ratepayers. California continues to put our people first."

Assemblymember Rick Chavez Zbur (D-Hollywood): "As California continues to lead the world in innovation, we must ensure that working families and small businesses are not left footing the bill for data centers' enormous energy demands. Assembly Bill 2383 ensures these large energy users pay their fair share of the costs needed to serve them, protects ratepayers from unfair cost shifts, and helps California responsibly plan for the future of our electrical grid while reducing electricity costs for consumers."

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Assemblymember Diane Papan (D-San Mateo): "These bills are essential for the future of water management in California and I am grateful for the Governor's partnership. In signing both of these bills, Governor Newsom has positioned California to balance innovation and sustainability."

Mark Toney, Executive Director, TURN: "Collectively these measures protect ratepayers from subsidizing the significant energy consumption of data centers, ensuring that the data centers pay upfront for the extra infrastructure that must be built to operate them, and pay their fair share for wildfire mitigation and other ratepayer-funded programs. We are grateful for the Governor's leadership to hold these data centers accountable."

Sam Uden, Co-founder and Managing Director, Net-Zero California: "Managing data center-driven load growth is one of the most consequential energy issues facing the nation today. California policymakers have met the moment with a robust set of protections that first and foremost prevent data centers from shifting costs onto ratepayers. These bills also lay a foundation to turn data center growth into an opportunity — bringing new energy supply onto the grid and strengthening reliability. This package represents a sophisticated response to a critical public issue: we don't need moratoriums if we have the leadership to put strong protections in place while capturing the broader economic and technological benefits of data centers."

Linda Serizawa, Director, California Public Advocates Office: "By enacting this package, the Governor and Legislature have put much-needed transparency requirements and ratepayer protections in place for data centers in California. Californians deserve greater visibility into the energy and water demands of these projects, and existing customers should not have to shoulder unreasonable costs to accommodate that demand. Better reporting, planning, and protections to keep those costs from being passed on to ratepayers will provide greater accountability for this growing industry."

Victoria Rome, Director of California Government Affairs at Natural Resources Defense Council Nonprofit: "Some of the wealthiest companies in the world are building data centers, and they can afford to cover their own costs instead of passing them on to California families. These laws help protect ratepayers from higher bills driven by increased demand from data centers, steer data centers towards new clean energy, and give communities more information before a project moves forward. Governor Newsom and our state leaders have set a model for the nation: data centers must pay their own way and respect the people who live next door."

Andy Wunder, Senior Western Advocate, E2 (Economy+Environment): "California has long demonstrated that climate leadership and economic growth go hand in hand. These responsible data center development laws build on that principle – protecting our grid and advancing energy affordability while keeping California at the forefront of technological innovation.  With clear and enforceable guardrails, businesses and residents won't front the cost of data center growth and development will not be at the expense of California's ambitious climate and clean energy goals."

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