Rules for Australian data centres

In Australia, companies building AI data centres can't just plug into the existing power grid and expect everyone else to cover the cost.

The Australian Government expects them to bring their own clean energy, but it's not a legal requirement yet. Companies that do this get priority approval for their projects, and most already offset about 70% of their energy with renewables (Australian Government).

Data centre owners have to cover their share of the costs of transmitting and distributing the energy they need.

Since they use a lot of water for cooling, they are expected to use "innovative, efficient and sustainable solutions to minimise water use" (Australian Government).

They are also expected to help build a "pipeline of skilled workers to support the construction and operation of data centres" (Australian Government).