New legislation would force large-scale data centers to fund renewable energy equal to their total electricity consumption, with implications for crypto-adjacent firms like IRENAustralia wants its booming data center industry to pay for the clean energy it consumes. Under the new rules, IREN would need to fund an equivalent amount of renewable generation capacity before flipping the switch. AdvertisementAustralia currently hosts 162 data center facilities, and at least 90 new ones have been proposed. Investment implications and competitive dynamicsFor investors watching the renewable energy space, Australia just created a guaranteed demand floor. Every new data center approval effectively becomes a concurrent renewable energy project approval.