The convoluted process of funding local water authorities, who often rely on bond sales for capital improvement projects, is now coming under the sway of the data center proliferation debate.
"In addition to reauthorizing these programs, we will examine legislation intended to protect ratepayers from costs associated with local water systems serving data centers, and whether centers can have positive impacts on local communities," said Rep. Gary Palmer R-Ala.
Palmer serves as the Chairman of the Environment subcommittee of the House Committee of Energy and Commerce.
The comments came during a subcommittee hearing on Thursday that looped in concerns over data centers with the ongoing debate over funding levels for the Clean Water State Revolving Fund and the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund.
Both funds are administered by the Environmental Protection Agency and fall under the jurisdiction of the Water Resources Development Act, a biennial process that usually works its way through committees in both houses of Congress along a bipartisan path.
Choosing sides in the data center debate is muddying the already unclear water.
"They (data centers) are major drivers of investment, economic growth, job creation, the development of our nation's digital infrastructure," said Palmer.
"Those benefits should not come at the expense of families and small businesses through higher water rates."
Democrats are also acknowledging the data center fracas while lobbying to replace an increase in funding provided by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which expires Sept. 30.
"It would devastate the drinking water state revolving fund, reducing the authorization level by over $2 billion annually compared to this year's level," said subcommittee ranking member Paul Tonko, D-N.Y.
"This is completely unacceptable. I personally believe we should provide more funding to the SRF, but I would hope we could at least compromise by maintaining current levels."
Politicians, pundits and industry leaders are all looking for safe footing on the data center issue and how they are affecting local water supplies.
"Responsible siting should include careful assessment of water availability, system capacity, alternative resources, and affordability concerns," said Neil Bradley, executive vice president, chief policy officer, and head of strategic advocacy, for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
"Household and small business customers should not bear an unfair burden or cost from economic development projects. This is true whether the project happens to be a data center, a manufacturing facility, a golf course, or an agricultural enterprise."
The state of play for the current SRF numbers includes a WRDA markup rolled out in
EPW recommended cutting the clean water fund by $700 million cut while boosting the drinking water fund slightly.
The House Appropriations Committee is recommending cuts of $1.2 billion for clean water funds and $911 million for drinking water projects.
The Senate Appropriations Committee has yet to come to an agreement.
The Trump administration has proposed slashing SRF by 90% and passing the funding onus for water infrastructure onto the states.
