Methodology

How the legislation is scored

Using LegiScan, NCSL's energy legislation database, LexisNexis State Net, and supplementary searches, every state legislature was scanned for bills introduced or enacted in the 2025–26 sessions that reference data centers or large-load customers. The scan yielded 196 bills across 48 states; 151 were scored. Scoring follows the OECD/JRC framework for composite indicators.

Eight policy dimensions

Each bill is scored on every dimension it addresses: Tax Incentives; Cost Allocation / Ratepayer; Environmental Mandates; Siting / Land Use; Labor Standards; Utility Tariff / Rate; Self-Supply; Transparency / Reporting. Dimensions were drawn from the literature and the Indianapolis data center scorecard, then refined during the scan (for example, self-supply authorization and NDA prohibitions).

Scoring rubric (−2 to +2)

Negative values are protective or restrictive — they impose costs or obligations on data centers. Positive values are pro-development — they confer benefits or remove barriers.

Dimension	+2	+1	0	−1	−2
Tax Incentives	Significant exemption/credit (e.g., 100% sales/use exemption, multi-year abatement).	Modest tax benefit (limited credit, narrow exemption, partial abatement).	No tax provisions.	Modest tax increase or removal of a modest benefit.	Repeals significant exemptions/credits (subsidy repeal).
Cost Allocation / Ratepayer	Protects data center from cost allocation / lets them avoid costs.	Shifts some costs away from data centers or provides cost certainty that benefits them.	No cost provisions.	Partial or conditional cost assignment, or a cost-shift bar applying only to some cost categories.	Full-cost assignment with an explicit, unconditional bar on recovery from other classes, regardless of whether specific tariff mechanics are also prescribed.
Environmental Mandates	Reduces/eliminates environmental requirements.	Modest easing of environmental requirements (extended compliance timelines, streamlined review, incentives).	No environmental provisions.	Modest requirement (disclosure, modest efficiency standard).	Significant mandate (100% renewable, hourly matching, water limits, reclaimed water, generator bans).
Siting / Land Use	Preempts local restrictions / eases siting.	Modest easing of siting (reduced review, clear timelines, limited preemption).	No siting provisions.	Modest requirement (study, notice).	Significant restriction (setbacks, cumulative impacts, mandatory CBA).
Labor Standards	Reduces/eliminates labor requirements.	Modest easing of labor requirements (exemptions, reduced apprenticeship ratios).	No labor provisions.	Modest requirement (OSHA, safety plan).	Significant requirement (prevailing wage, apprenticeship, public works).
Utility Tariff / Rate	Tariff benefiting data centers (discount, expedited interconnect).	Tariff that provides some advantage (expedited interconnection, predictable rates, cost-causal but not punitive).	No tariff provisions.	Requires some dedicated mechanism or rate differentiation but leaves specific terms to agency discretion or the parties, or offers a menu of rate options.	Mandates a dedicated rate class/tariff and prescribes specific binding contract terms.
Self-Supply	Incentivizes self-supply or behind-the-meter generation with minimal or no conditions.	Authorizes self-supply with modest conditions.	No self-supply provisions.	Restricts or limits self-supply.	Heavily regulates self-supply.
Transparency / Reporting	Significant reduction in reporting/transparency (exemptions from disclosure, NDA authorization).	Modest reduction in reporting (less frequent reporting, consolidated filings).	No transparency provisions.	Modest reporting (annual report to agency).	Significant transparency (public operational data, NDA ban, no trade secret, waiting period, 5-mile notice).

Scoring conventions

Permissive language ("may") scores at zero or one step toward positive relative to mandatory language ("shall").
When a bill has both pro-development and protective provisions on one dimension, the dominant effect sets the score — competing signals are not averaged.
Non-binding resolutions and study directives are scored on what they request. Moratoriums pending study score −2 on siting; pure information requests score 0.

Bill-level and state-level scores

A bill's directional score is the equally weighted mean of the dimensions it addresses, bounded from −2 to +2. Each bill's scope (number of dimensions) and a breadth-weighted composite (direction × scope) are kept as secondary measures. The composite is not used for state scores because it amplifies broad protective bills relative to narrow pro-development ones.

A state's score is the mean of its scored bills' directional scores, so states stay comparable regardless of how many bills they introduced. The national mean is about -1.18. Party averages are computed per dimension across bills with a single-party sponsor.

The map uses two views: Absolute anchors the color ramp at zero; Relative centers it on the national mean, so a "greener" state is comparatively less restrictive, not pro-development. Grey marks insufficient scored legislation.

Regulatory models

Separately from scoring, each bill receives one or two model labels. Model shares on this site count each bill's primary (first-listed) label.

Ratepayer Protection Model: Large-load customers absorb grid expansion costs.
Sustainability Mandate Model: Efficiency and renewable standards required.
Transparency Mandate: Compels disclosure/reporting.
Conditional Streamlining Model: Imposes baseline regulatory burdens on all data centers while offering an accelerated or preferred pathway to those that meet defined sustainability, labor, or cost-allocation conditions.
Binding Moratorium: Freezes permitting/approval.
Growth-First Model: States subsidize infrastructure to attract data centers.
Incentive-Protection Model: Combines economic incentives (tax relief, financing, REC eligibility) with ratepayer or environmental safeguards.
Structural Exit Model: Enables large customers to bypass utility service entirely through self-supply, protecting ratepayers indirectly while providing an economic pathway for large-load investment.
Subsidy Repeal: State removes existing tax incentives or subsidies previously used to attract data centers.
Utility Expansion Model: Utilities extend energy infrastructure to meet demand.
Explorative Study: Commissions study without binding substantive regulation.

Uncertainty and limits

Many states rest on only one to four scored bills, so single-state values — especially at the extremes — are approximations. Geographic patterns are meaningful in aggregate.
Dimensions carry unequal real-world weight. Dimension multipliers were considered and rejected because no defensible weighting generalizes across fifty regulatory environments.
Scores describe introduced legislation, not enacted law; few bills have been enacted.
The database is updated after publication. New bills added since the paper's scan may not yet be scored, so live counts can differ from the paper's figures.

See the patterns these methods produce on the Findings page.