Scope
Statutes of 2026, chapter 434 (AB 1577) requires the owner or operator of a data center, upon applying for a discretionary permit, entitlement, or land use authorization for its construction or operation, to give the applicable local agency estimates of expected annual energy consumption, expected onsite generation, and expected average and maximum sound levels. It also requires the Energy Commission to set up a process for data center owners or operators to submit information including location, size, power usage effectiveness and onsite fuel use. For these sections, a data center does not include a facility with an electrical capacity of less than 10 megawatts.
- Geographic scope
- California
- Jurisdiction
- State
- Authority type
- Legislature
- Issuing authority
- California Legislature
Dates
- Adopted
- 21 September 2026
- Effective
- 1 January 2027
- Scheduled expiration
- See completion condition
- Ended
- Not recorded as ended
- Completion condition
- Not yet in effect on 23 September 2026. The statute states no expiration; dates inside it are implementation deadlines, not end dates.
- Source document
- 21 September 2026
- Last checked
- 1 October 2026 (earlier than tracker date 5 October 2026; not an automatic status change)
Summary
California AB 1577, approved by the Governor and chaptered on 21 September 2026 as chapter 434, adds data center reporting duties. When applying for a discretionary permit or land use authorization, an owner or operator must give the city or county estimates of annual energy use, onsite generation and sound levels. The Energy Commission must set up a process for owners or operators to report location, size, power usage effectiveness and onsite fuel use, and publish the data in aggregated form. Facilities under 10 megawatts are outside the definition. As a non-urgency statute it takes effect on 1 January 2027.
What this does not establish
- The finding was reviewed against the California Legislature official bulk-data file for 21 September 2026, saved and linked below. The primary link is the human-readable official bill page; that site disallows automated access, so the page itself was not checked automatically.
- 1 January 2027 is not printed in the chaptered text. It is taken from the official 2026 legislative calendar entry that statutes take effect 1 January 2027 under Article IV, section 8(c), and the chaptered text carries no urgency clause.
- The Energy Commission reporting process and its timeframe are to be set by the Commission; no implementing process was opened.
- The act does not require a local agency to deny or approve a data center; the local agency may use the estimates for planning and environmental review.
Unresolved questions
- When the Energy Commission will specify the manner and timeframe for submissions was not established.
Relationships
Supersession means a later instrument replaces the earlier legal effect. Repeal links identify the repeal instrument and the measure it ends. A later implementation or related letter is not treated as a replacement unless the record says so.
- No related action is recorded.
Sources
Primary source · Reviewed alternate official source (23 September 2026)
Link status, checked 23 September 2026: The finding was checked against a saved copy of the California Legislature official 21 September 2026 bulk-data file. The human-readable primary bill page is kept for readers, but its robots.txt disallows automated review.
https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260AB1577
- Governor of California release announcing the signed data-center bills official announcement that the Governor signed the bill · 21 September 2026
- 2026 tentative legislative calendar (Senate) basis for the 1 January 2027 effective day of non-urgency 2026 statutes
- California Legislature official daily bulk file reviewed for this record actual official bulk evidence reviewed for this record; saved and checked as unchanged