Data centers are by far the leading driver of electric load growth in the United States. National estimates suggest data center load could increase sixfold by 2035, reaching 194 GW of demand. Without any controls, that could lead to a tripling of greenhouse gas emissions from data centers - the equivalent to adding more than 81 million gas powered cars to the road. Data centers have also created concerns over how they could raise costs for other customers, through requiring investment in new generation and transmission infrastructure that may be subsidized by other customers.


States are key to creating and enforcing smart regulation to manage data centers, and many have proposed and instituted new frameworks that are designed to tackle the potential of data centers accelerating GHG emissions and passing costs onto others. World Resources Institute, joined by Climate XChange, will be hosting a webinar featuring work on state policy across the country to regulate emissions related to powering data centers. The virtual session will include a brief, introductory review of WRI and Climate XChange’s recent toolkit on regulating emissions from data centers at the state level and then proceed into a panel discussion with state policymakers and advocates. Following the panel, there will be a moderated audience Q&A. Materials from the session will be shared afterwards.

Attendees will hear from:

  • Jon Binder, Executive Director of the Model Climate Laws Initiative and Non-Resident Senior Fellow, Sabin Center for Climate Change Law
  • Jordan Gerow, Director of Policy and Research, Climate XChange Education and Research
  • Senator Josh Becker, California 13th Senate District
  • Ian Goldsmith, Clean Energy Research Associate, WRI U.S. Polsky Center for the Global Energy Transition (Moderator)

Register for this webinar

By registering for this webinar, you agree to receive essential emails related to this event (e.g., confirmation, access details, follow-ups) from World Resources Institute.