European Commission Proposes Resource Disclosure and Ratings Framework for Data Centers Above 500 kW

The European Commission has put forward a draft regulatory framework covering data centers with electrical capacity above 500 kW. The proposal combines a common rating system with disclosure requirements for electricity consumption, water use that reflects local water scarcity, and waste-heat utilisation.

The initiative remains at the proposal stage. A two-month period has opened for the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union to review the draft and submit views. The available information indicates that data centers could be required to disclose sustainability ratings and related information from next year if the plan is implemented, although no precise effective date or final text has been specified.

The proposal does not establish direct limits on electricity or water consumption. Instead, it would create a more consistent reporting basis for assessing resource performance across qualifying facilities. For operators, this could raise the importance of metering, resource telemetry, cooling efficiency, water-management practices and waste-heat strategies. For customers, it could make sustainability and resource indicators more comparable in colocation and site-selection decisions.

The policy discussion comes alongside projected growth in the sector's power demand. Data centers in the EU consumed 68 TWh of electricity in 2024, according to the cited information, with consumption projected to reach 114 TWh by 2030—more than 3% of total EU electricity consumption. Separately, the EU intends to triple regional data-center capacity over the next seven years, though no baseline capacity or absolute expansion figure was provided.

Over time, the reported data could create a basis for performance benchmarks or more stringent requirements. That is an inference rather than a confirmed feature of the current proposal: the available material does not establish that minimum performance standards or consumption restrictions will be adopted.