A new U.S. bill would require mining and AI companies to progressively reduce emissions.
A new legislative proposal, titled the “Clean Cloud Act of 2025,” was recently introduced in the U.S. Senate by Democratic Senators Sheldon Whitehouse and John Fetterman. Its goal is to regulate emissions from Bitcoin mining facilities and artificial intelligence data centers.
The bill proposes amending the Clean Air Act to impose regional emission limits on data centers with an energy capacity above 100 kW. These limits would be set by the end of 2025 and progressively reduced by 11% each year, aiming for zero emissions by 2035. The regulation would force miners and data centers to operate exclusively on renewable energy by that deadline.
Companies that exceed emission limits would pay an initial fee of $20 per ton of CO₂ equivalent. This fee would increase annually, adjusted for inflation, with an additional $10 per ton increment. Operators would be prohibited from passing these costs onto customers. The funds raised from these penalties would be used to offset potential electricity cost increases for residents, through grants to local governments, and to support clean energy initiatives.
Transparency on energy sources
Another key element of the proposal is the requirement for miners and data centers to submit detailed annual reports on their electricity consumption and energy sources. These reports would allow the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) to calculate each facility’s greenhouse gas emission intensity and evaluate potential penalties based on regional limits. Responsibility for paying fines would fall on the tenants renting the facilities, not the property owners.
Supporters of the bill stated that “crypto and AI data centers can support clean energy, but instead they’re burning more fossil fuels and driving up energy costs for families.” According to the sponsors, the Clean Cloud Act would ensure that “the industries profiting also pay their own way.”
