Data Center Water Usage Requirements (HB6138)

Current understanding

HB6138 would create a new standalone Michigan act establishing water usage requirements for data centers, a first-in-class mechanism linking large-scale computing infrastructure to water consumption regulation. It is tie-barred to the broader HB6135–HB6142 data center package coordinating utility ratemaking (HB6135), community benefit agreements (HB6137), zoning (HB6136), and other companion bills. Status: introduced.

Evidence log

• 2026-08-26 — Businesses: other; water and electricity usage reporting requirements for data centers; provide for. Creates new act.: cross-connection with data-center-usage-reporting: Reporting regime complements HB6138’s substantive water-usage requirements by generating the consumption data that regulators and the public would need to evaluate compliance. (novelty: 3)
• 2026-08-26 — Businesses: other; energy infrastructure and thermal management evaluation requirements for certain data centers; provide for. Creates new act.: cross-connection with data-center-energy-thermal-evaluation: Parallel operational-impact requirements on data centers — thermal management often intersects with cooling-water demand. (novelty: 3)
• 2026-06-04 — Businesses: other; moratorium on certain approvals for and operation of any new data centers; provide for. Creates new act. TIE BAR WITH: SB 1019’26: SB 1018 proposes a moratorium on new data centers, which would preempt in-operation water usage regulation like HB6138 by halting new siting entirely during the pause. (novelty: 3)
• 2025-12-18 — Energy: other; energy and water usage report requirements for data centers; provide for. Amends sec. 5a of 1939 PA 3 (MCL 460.5a).: SB0762 (Senate companion approach) would amend 1939 PA 3 sec. 5a to require data centers to report energy and water usage to the state, offering a lighter-touch reporting mechanism that parallels HB6138’s substantive water-use regime. (novelty: 2)
• 2026-06-25 — Businesses: other; requirements for data center decommissioning, dismantling, and remediation; provide for. Amends 1939 PA 3 (MCL 460.1 - 460.11) by adding sec. 10jj. TIE BAR WITH: HB 6135’26, HB 6140’26, HB 6141’26, HB 6137’26, HB 6138’26, HB 6139’26: HB6142 (tie-barred companion) adds decommissioning, dismantling, and remediation requirements to the data center package, complementing HB6138’s water usage regime by addressing site restoration after operations end. (novelty: 3)
• 2026-06-25 — Construction: permits; acoustic engineering report for data center; require to receive building permit. Amends 1972 PA 230 (MCL 125.1501 - 125.1531) by adding sec. 10a. TIE BAR WITH: HB 6135’26, HB 6140’26, HB 6141’26, HB 6137’26, HB 6138’26, HB 6142’26: HB6139 (tie-barred companion) adds a noise/acoustic dimension to the data center package alongside water and electricity regulation, requiring an acoustic engineering report for building permits. (novelty: 3)
• 2026-06-25 — Businesses: other; data center water usage requirements; provide for. Creates new act. TIE BAR WITH: HB 6135’26, HB 6140’26, HB 6141’26, HB 6137’26, HB 6142’26, HB 6139’26: cross-connection with data-center-large-load-rates: HB6138’s water usage act and HB6135’s large-load electricity rates jointly regulate the two principal resource demands (power and water) of data centers under the same tie-barred package. (novelty: 4)

Open questions

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