Localities with many data centers would fund home renewable energy

A county, city, or town with at least 20 data centers would have to adopt an ordinance creating a local residential renewable energy incentive program. The program would apply to real estate and machinery-and-tools taxes on data centers in that locality. The ordinance would allocate all or a stated percentage of the tax increase tied to property value above the July 1, 2026, base value into a special local fund. The fund would not include added revenue from later tax-rate increases or from higher values of preexisting data-center property unless that property is improved or enhanced. The requirement would apply when a locality collects real property taxes from at least 20 data centers; the ordinance would use July 1, 2026, as the base-value date.

Local officials would use the fund first to reduce residential utility bills and invest in renewable energy, with priority for residential solar and battery storage. Funds would support residential customers, including some renters, and would prioritize rooftop solar for single-family and townhome households meeting specified income, energy-cost, or public-assistance criteria. Fifteen percent of new data-center revenue would go to residential solar and battery storage investments, and another 15 percent would provide pro rata reimbursements tied to residents' qualifying-vehicle property-tax assessments. Property owners could not be forced to participate, and rental-property grants would go directly to the paying utility customer. Only qualified installers could take part, and localities could not set a capacity limit on approved residential solar or energy-storage resources. The rules would not change specified utility interconnection, net-metering, portfolio-standard, or shared-solar requirements. The spending priorities would apply while the local incentive fund exists.

A locality violating the program rules would have its remaining fund balance transferred to the Department of Energy, and its program would be dissolved. The penalty would apply to the local treasurer and locality covered by the program; the treasurer could face a Class 1 misdemeanor for violating the transfer requirement. Unused money not spent in good faith on authorized purposes could be paid into the locality's general fund as surplus. The Attorney General would be authorized to enforce the fund-transfer rule. A locality could dissolve its program by repealing its incentive ordinance, after which remaining funds would go to its general fund and data-center property taxes would return to the prior collection method. The transfer would occur immediately after a locality violates the article; dissolution would occur when the locality passes a repeal ordinance.