The US Senate failed to advance the Ratepayer Protection Act, a bill passed by the House that would require states to consider charging technology companies for the incremental costs of new power infrastructure needed for data centers. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) blocked the Republican-led effort, arguing the bill did not go far enough and proposing his own legislation.
The failure to pass the Ratepayer Protection Act means that the debate over who should pay for the significant energy infrastructure required by data centers, particularly those supporting AI, remains unresolved, potentially leaving consumers to shoulder increased electricity costs.
The US Senate failed to pass the Ratepayer Protection Act, a bill designed to ensure that the rising energy costs associated with data centers are borne by technology companies rather than ordinary electricity customers. The legislation, which had passed the House of Representatives with overwhelming bipartisan support (417-3), was blocked in the Senate by a procedural vote of 57-43.
Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), the top Democrat on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, objected to the bill's advancement by unanimous consent. He argued that the Ratepayer Protection Act did not go far enough to address the scale of the problem and proposed his own legislation, the GRID Savings Act, which he contends would bring down energy prices and require data center operators to engage more directly with local communities, conserve resources like water, and utilize clean energy and battery storage.
Following Heinrich's objection, he attempted to pass his own bill by unanimous consent, but this was blocked by Republican Senator Bernie Moreno (R-S.D.), who accused Heinrich of obstructing immediate consumer relief and contributing to the perception of a "do-nothing Congress." Senator Jon Husted (R-Ohio), who led the Senate push for the House-passed bill, expressed frustration, calling the measure a "rare point of consensus" that had been missed.
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