Your annual energy report may show that you met your renewable power target. However, proof within a specific hour is challenging.
Spain has proposed rules that would require some data centers to match electricity use with renewable generation every hour.
For operators tracking data center PUE, this raises a new question: Do you know when your facility used power and where it came from?
TL;DR
- Spain’s proposed rules cover new data centers of 1 MW or more.
- These facilities would need to match 80% of hourly power use with new renewable generation.
- Power usage effectiveness (PUE) measures energy efficiency, not energy origin.
- Hourly reporting requires meter data, power supply records, and matching timestamps.
What Spain is proposing
In August 2026, Data Center Dynamics reported on Spain’s draft energy rules.
New facilities of 1 MW or more would need to match at least 80% of their hourly electricity use with new renewable generation.
The proposal also covers energy and water use. Spain’s government links the rules to grid access and possible penalties, read the DCD report here.
Read the government announcement.
These rules are not final, but they show why annual energy totals may no longer be enough.
Why this matters to US data centers
The Greenhouse Gas Protocol is reviewing its Scope 2 rules. One proposal would move electricity reporting toward hourly matching.
The group expects to finalize its updated standard in 2027.
Read the GHG Protocol announcement.
Spain’s proposal does not apply to US facilities. Still, data center operators may face growing demand for hourly energy records.
Why annual energy totals fall short
Imagine a data center facility uses 10 MWh of electricity in one hour. An 80% hourly renewable energy rule means at least 8 MWh must come from qualifying renewables in that hour.
If only 6 MWh qualifies, the facility has a 2 MWh shortfall. Extra renewable power later in the day cannot make up for that gap.
This means operators must track total facility energy use and renewable power supply hour by hour.
Connecting data center energy records
Energy data often sits in different systems. Meter readings may come from an EPMS, while utility and power purchase agreement (PPA) records sit elsewhere.
Hourly reporting requires four types of data:
- Facility consumption: How much electricity the data center uses.
- Power supply: Electricity delivered or generated onsite.
- Renewable generation: Energy available through renewable agreements.
- Reporting rules: Which sources and time periods count.
Connecting these records helps operators review power distribution, energy use, and renewable supply.
How to measure hourly energy use
Start with interval meter data. Use the same time zone and reporting period across systems.
Next, collect utility, PPA, and onsite generation records.
Real-time data center energy monitoring shows when facilities use power. Historical records let teams compare that demand with renewable supply.
Solar and wind output can change throughout the day. Comparing both records helps teams spot gaps and review supply options.
What is PUE in a data center?
Power usage effectiveness (PUE) measures data center energy efficiency. PUE metric compares the amount of energy used by the entire facility with IT equipment energy. It is the ratio of the total facility energy to IT energy. The Green Grid developed the PUE calculation.
The PUE calculation is:
PUE = Total Facility Energy ÷ IT Equipment Energy
For example, a facility using 1,500 MWh with 1,000 MWh going to IT equipment has a PUE of 1.5.
A lower PUE often means less energy goes to cooling, power delivery, and other support equipment. Then, compare this to IT energy use. Cooling design, including air and liquid cooling systems, can influence overall energy consumption.
The average PUE provides a useful efficiency benchmark, although results vary by facility design, climate, and operating conditions.
Data center infrastructure efficiency (DCiE) is a related metric. It shows the ratio of IT energy to total facility energy as a percentage.
The Uptime Institute tracks industry PUE trends.
A good PUE helps data center operators assess equipment energy use and identify opportunities to improve efficiency.
However, PUE cannot prove that electricity came from renewable sources.
PUE measures efficiency, while hourly matching tracks energy use and where it comes from.
How to prepare for hourly reporting
Start with one facility and one week of data. Then, gather meter readings and renewable generation records and match timestamps to find missing data.
Then, check who owns each record and how long reporting takes. This test can reveal problems before reporting deadlines arrive.
How Modius OpenData supports hourly reporting
Modius OpenData® helps data center operators track power use across their infrastructure.
It supports hourly power summaries and historical consumption records.
OpenData brings data from different systems into one view. Its reporting tools and open APIs help teams share records with other platforms.
This supports data center infrastructure efficiency and better visibility into facility energy demand.
Operators still need utility and renewable generation records for hourly matching. OpenData supports the consumption side but does not prove compliance on its own.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is hourly renewable matching?
Hourly renewable matching shows qualifying renewable power that generators produced in the same hour the facility used electricity. It does not match only annual totals.
Modius OpenData records facility energy use in real-time. This enables hour by hour reporting, which shows the consumption side of that match.
Does Spain’s proposed regulation apply to US data centers?
No, the proposal would apply to new facilities in Spain of 1 MW or more. US operators should still watch the broader move toward more granular corporate energy reporting.
Modius OpenData keeps detailed interval history, so you can answer hourly questions later without rebuilding your records.
Can existing PUE reports prove hourly matching?
No, PUE measures data center energy efficiency. It does not show when a facility consumed electricity or whether the supply was renewable.
Modius OpenData reports PUE and hourly consumption from the same system, so you don’t need two separate processes.
Why is hourly reporting harder than annual reporting?
The data often sits in different systems. At hourly resolution, missing intervals, clock drift, and boundary mismatches become much easier to see.
OpenData solves this problem. Modius OpenData brings real-time data from different equipment sources into one record. The unified view makes gaps and timing issues easier to find and fix.
What should operators do first?
Pick one facility and one week. Pull interval consumption data, request the related generation records, and try to align them by hour.
Modius OpenData already provides the consumption data for that test with real-time data.
Ready to see how OpenData can support a clearer record of facility energy use? Schedule a personalized demo and we’ll help you find the data connections to future-proof your reporting.