美国能源资讯署（Energy Information Administration，EIA）于4月9日回应参议员Elizabeth Warren与Josh Hawley的查询，表示计划建立资料中心能源使用的强制性全国性调查，并指出这将是第一个系统性搜集该产业基础资料的行动。该信件由EIA主管Tristan Abbey签发，出于美国民众面临电费负担上升时的关切，且EIA将透过此举回答这些疑虑。
资料中心在美国的急速扩张引发公众关切、提议管制资源使用及建设暂停，但官方数据仍稀少，因多数运作细节被视为企业机密。为回应保护用电户的政策压力，开发商越来越多采用区内自用电源（behind-the-meter）供电，且其中不少为燃气机组，进一步推高空污与气候风险争议。NAACP于4月14日（周二）起诉xAI，指控其在密西西比州某资料中心使用未取得许可的燃气涡轮机；EIA虽已对石油、天然气与发电及工业客户等持续实施强制调查，但到3月下旬才宣布在德州、华盛顿州与北维吉尼亚/华府都会区先行试点调查。
在信件中，Tristan Abbey指出，第二阶段将再覆盖至少三个州；两轮先导调查预计于9月下旬完成，作为推进全国强制性调查的方法论前置。搜集内容不仅含年度电力使用量，也含区内自发电、资料中心类型、冷却系统、设施规模（含square footage，平方英尺）以及IT效率指标；目前第一轮先导调查中，三地共196家公司仅需选择一个据点回报。EIA未说明问题如何依据据点差异配发，亦未提出选择回报据点的要求，并仍未披露第二轮先导的启动时间、涵盖州份与全国性调查的可能时程。
On April 9, the EIA, responding to an inquiry from Senator Elizabeth Warren and Senator Josh Hawley, said it intends to create a mandatory nationwide survey of data-center energy use, described as the first effort of its kind to collect basic industry information. The letter from EIA Director Tristan Abbey says this follows growing concern over utility bills. Warren framed it as public-interest oversight and urged the agency to collect and share data quickly.
Data-center expansion in the U.S. has triggered public concern, proposed resource-use limits, and moratorium ideas, yet official data remain sparse because most operational details are treated as proprietary. Developers are increasingly using behind-the-meter generation, often gas-powered, after policy pressure to protect ratepayers, which shifts debate toward pollution and climate risk. A NAACP lawsuit (Tuesday, April 14) against xAI alleges an unpermitted gas-turbine unit at a Mississippi site. The EIA already runs mandatory surveys for oil, gas, and electric generation plus industrial customers, and in late March announced pilot surveys in Texas, Washington, and the northern Virginia/DC metro area.
In the letter, Abbey says a second tranche will cover at least three additional states, and both pilots are to be completed by late September as a methodological precursor to a full national mandatory survey. Data sought include annual electricity use and behind-the-meter generation, classification by center type, cooling systems, facility size (including square footage), and IT efficiency metrics. The current pilot asks 196 identified companies in the three regions to report only one location each, and the EIA has not explained how locations are matched to tailored questions, or any requirements for selecting reporting sites. It also has not released when the second pilots start, which states they will include, or when a national rollout could begin.