Clean Cloud Act of 2025

The Clean Cloud Act of 2025 (HR6179) was introduced on November 20, 2025 by Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN) with 9 cosponsors. It has been referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. A companion bill (S1475) has been introduced in the Senate and referred to the Environment and Public Works Committee. The bill is early-stage — no hearings, markups, or votes have occurred. The presence of a companion bill in the Senate is a signal of broader coalition interest, but passage in this Congress is not guaranteed; the probability is elevated relative to a standalone House bill but remains moderate.

The bill does not authorize or appropriate any funding. Instead, it establishes a regulatory mechanism: the EPA and EIA will determine the greenhouse gas emission intensity of electricity consumed by covered facilities (data centers and cryptomining facilities over 100 kW), and then impose a fee based on those emissions. The fees collected would fund zero-carbon electricity generation, long-duration energy storage, and grants to lower residential electricity consumer costs — but these are future appropriations dependent on subsequent spending bills.

The direct economic mechanism is a cost increase on electricity consumption for large computing facilities. For pure-play crypto miners ($MARA, $RIOT, $CLSK, $HUT), electricity is the single largest operating expense (typically 60-80% of mining revenue). Any fee directly reduces gross margin with no offsetting revenue. These companies cannot easily pass costs to customers (Bitcoin is globally priced) and cannot quickly relocate given sunk capital in facilities. Data center REITs ($EQIX, $DLR) face a more complex dynamic: power costs are ~30% of operating expenses, but these companies can negotiate power purchase agreements (PPAs) with low-emission sources or pass costs to tenants through colocation contracts. The bill may accelerate demand for renewable energy PPAs from data center operators, benefiting renewable energy developers.

Real market data shows crypto miners have already declined sharply in the past week: $RIOT -11.28%, $CLSK -5.72%, $HUT -3.59%, $MARA -0.77% — this despite a 30-day rally of +33-58% for these same stocks, driven by a prolonged Bitcoin rally. The divergence suggests the market is beginning to price in legislative risk specifically for crypto miners. Data center REITs have also declined: $EQIX -5.16% and $DLR -1.77% in the past week. , the server vendor, has declined -8.67% in the past week, but its connection to this bill is indirect and lower confidence.

The legislative timeline: the bill must pass committee (House Energy and Commerce, Senate Environment and Public Works), then pass both chambers, then be signed or vetoed. In the 119th Congress with a likely divided government (House Democratic, Senate Republican depending on 2026 midterms), passage is far from certain. However, the issue is timely as AI-driven data center electricity demand is projected to rise from 4% to 12% of US electricity use by 2028, creating bipartisan interest in data center energy regulation.