Overview
- In mid-September EU Vice‑President Teresa Ribera confirmed Brussels is studying limits on electricity and water use for new data centres to avoid passing higher bills to consumers and stressing local resources.
- The European Commission is examining rules that would require new facilities to bring dedicated energy supplies through higher efficiency, self-consumption schemes, or nearby new renewable generation and to meet water‑sustainability standards.
- The Spanish government circulated a draft royal decree that would force new data centres to source 80% of their electricity on an hourly basis from newly built renewables and meet tougher efficiency and digital‑security rules, triggering more than 600 formal objections.
- Industry groups warn the Spanish draft could scare off most projects, with Spain DC saying 80–90% of prospective investment is at risk and promoters have paused roughly €9 billion in projects if the decree stays as drafted.
- Regional leaders such as Aragón’s president Jorge Azcón reject the decree, saying it could endanger about €50 billion in local investment and blaming grid underinvestment for price pressures while Madrid and the sector have agreed to a technical negotiating table to revise the text.