Senate · Introduced · 2025-2026 Regular Session

SB436: SB436 Counties, Municipal Corporations; local governments and political subdivisions from entering into nondisclosure agreements regarding electricity usage or water usage of any entity; prohibit

Last action January 29, 2026 · Senate Read and Referred

A Georgia Senate bill would bar counties, cities, and other local governments from signing nondisclosure agreements about a business's electricity or water usage, and would pause new sales tax exemption certificates for large data centers for one year.

In plain language

Local governments in Georgia sometimes sign confidentiality agreements with companies, including data centers, that keep details of the company's electricity or water usage secret. This bill would stop that practice by adding a new section to Georgia law that bans counties, municipal corporations, and other political subdivisions from entering into nondisclosure agreements or similar contracts that block disclosure of any entity's electricity or water use. The bill also changes the state's sales tax law (O.C.G.A. § 48-8-3) to pause the Department of Revenue from issuing any new sales tax exemption certificates for high-technology data center equipment between July 1, 2026 and June 30, 2027. It carves out an exception for data center customers already under contract before July 1, 2026, if the data center applied for its exemption certificate before that date.

What the bill does

Adds a new Code section (O.C.G.A. § 36-80-32) banning counties, cities, and other local political subdivisions from signing nondisclosure agreements that hide any entity's electricity or water usage data.
Applies the disclosure ban to both consumptive and nonconsumptive water usage, meaning water that is used up as well as water that is used and returned.
Pauses the Georgia Department of Revenue from issuing new sales tax exemption certificates for high-technology data center equipment for one year, from July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2027.
Creates an exception to the pause for data center customers already locked into a contract signed before July 1, 2026, as long as the data center applied for its exemption certificate before that date.
Repeals any existing Georgia laws that conflict with these new rules.

Who it affects

County and municipal governments across Georgia that negotiate deals with businesses; high-technology data centers seeking sales tax exemptions on equipment; data center customers with contracts already in place; and utilities or agencies that track electricity and water usage data tied to these agreements.

Why it matters

Communities and reporters would gain access to information about how much electricity and water large facilities, including data centers, use, information sometimes kept secret through confidentiality deals. The one-year pause on new tax exemption certificates would affect which data center projects can lock in sales tax savings during that window.

Key provisions

Section 1 adds O.C.G.A. § 36-80-32, prohibiting any county, municipal corporation, or political subdivision from entering nondisclosure agreements covering an entity's electricity or water usage.
Section 2 amends O.C.G.A. § 48-8-3 to suspend new sales tax exemption certificates for high-technology data center equipment from July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027.
Section 2 exempts data center customers under contracts signed before July 1, 2026, provided the data center applied for its exemption certificate before that date.
Section 3 repeals any conflicting existing laws.

Status timeline

2026-01-29Senate Read and Referred (Senate)
2026-01-28Senate Hopper (Senate)

Topics

data centers
sales tax exemptions
government transparency
local government contracts
water usage