Data center laws in Utah

• H.B. 76Statute

  Data Center Water Transparency Amendments

  In effect in effect from May 6, 2026. 2026 General Session.

  A Utah statute on reporting of water use by large data centers, enacted in the 2026 General Session as Utah Code 73-5-8.3 with an amendment to 73-2-25. It applies to a data center of 10,000 square feet or more that withdraws 75 acre feet of water a year or more and begins operations on or after July 1, 2026.

  What it requires

  Before a city or county approves a land use application for a new large data center, it must notify the Division of Water Rights, the Division of Water Quality and the water provider. At least 90 days and at most 360 days before construction, the operator must tell the water provider its anticipated water consumption and report to the division the county and city, the estimated annual withdrawal, plans to treat discharges, any change to discharge temperature and any water reuse or replacement. Once running, the operator reports each year by July 1 the previous year's actual withdrawals, efforts to reduce consumption and efforts to protect water from pollution. The division publishes each new large data center's withdrawal data by September 1, not in the aggregate; treatment, reuse and conservation details reported as proprietary are published only as county totals. An operator that fails to report after notice is fined up to 100 dollars a day.

  The text: le.utah.gov, primary source

  1. August 11, 2026 On the scorecard case by case

     Utah enacted HB0076, signed by Governor Spencer Cox in March 2026, the first state law to require transparency on data center water use: a new data center over 10,000 square feet that uses at least 75 acre feet of water a year must report its water sources, the purpose of the use, conservation efforts and water quality to the Division of Water Rights, and the state releases anonymized totals to the public.

     route-fifty.com, trade press

  Last verified September 7, 2026.

A law here is one statute, utility commission order, tariff, tax rule, moratorium or bill at the state level. What it requires is taken from the text, never summarized from coverage; a date the text does not give is left empty. Its status is one of five, defined on the laws index. The dated events beneath a law are the scorecard entries that cite it.