Data Center Benefits vs Impacts (2026)

House page, Arnav Goswami, wants to understand how legislators are dealing with the impacts of data centers on the environment and the economy. Senator Shewmake (D), Chair of the Senate Environment, Energy, and Technology Committee and Representative John Ley (R), of the House Environment and Energy Committee share their ideas about how Washington can capitalize on the benefits of data centers while also dealing with the challenges of energy consumption.

Discussion/Comprehension Questions:
1. Why does Senator Shewmake have optimism in terms of data centers?
2. Why should the legislature look into the water impacts of data centers?
3. How can data centers be a piece of honoring the goals of the Climate Commitment Act?
4. According to Senator Shewmake, what are some types of regulations that should be put on data centers? How can economic impacts from data centers help the community as a whole?
5. What impact will the data centers have on our electrical grid?
6. According to Representative Ley, why will our clean energy not be enough?
7. Why is transmission of power also a problem? How can Eastern Washington and Western Washington work together?
8. How is the private industry involved in data centers?
9. How are the legislators' ideas similar and how are they different?

Lesson Plan: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1dZGL-_HhJxs3jKlv0pBEFtvvJ01cmb9VcsJPYeUgqZk/edit?usp=sharing

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