Republicans on Capitol Hill who have championed Big Tech’s race to dominate artificial intelligence are now confronting a growing political obstacle: voters angry over the soaring energy demands and utility costs tied to the data centers.
The politics of data centers are still very much in flux, but GOP politicians may be particularly vulnerable to a voter backlash because of their pro-development views and President Donald Trump’s all-in support for AI — including blocking states from setting their own rules.
Some are starting to seek distance from the White House. Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis floated new limits on data centers as part of an “AI bill of rights.” Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene and Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley have also questioned Trump’s state preemption drive.
Increasingly, congressional lawmakers from states at the center of the data center boom — Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia — are feeling the heat and looking to adjust.
“I think people have very legitimate concerns, and that is: Who is going to pay the bill for the additional energy that’s demanded from this?” said Rep. Rob Wittman (R-Va.). “They go, ‘My power bill’s gone up because somebody down the road is building a data center.'”
In Virginia’s recent election, Democrats won the governor’s mansion and made big gains in the Legislature by running on affordability. The state is home to the largest concentration of data centers.
And around the country, grassroots “not-in-my-backyard” groups are emerging, including in the district of Rep. Jim Baird (R-Ind.), where a local Facebook group is mobilizing against two proposed facilities. In Wittman’s district, multiple proposals for data centers have been shelved after local pushback.
Still, most Republicans remain supporters of Big Tech and the rapid infrastructure build-out. They see accelerating AI development as both an economic imperative and a geopolitical necessity in the race against China.
“AI is either going to be won by us or China, who’s going to control the data that flows around the world,” said Energy and Commerce Chair Brett Guthrie (R-Ky.). “Industry has the money, they have the capital to invest — what they don’t have is access to energy.”
That leaves Republicans walking an increasingly narrow tightrope: championing rapid AI build-out while insisting that state and local governments retain the ability to regulate where and how data centers are constructed.
“We know the value of data centers,” Baird said. “We know it’s going to increase the energy needs, and so I have great faith in our local people to take care of that.”
After legislation to block states from regulating AI failed to ride on the One Big Beautiful Bill Act and the National Defense Authorization Act, Trump decided to pursue an executive order. It’s unclear how much the forthcoming document will affect data center zoning and placement.
“One of the versions of the big, beautiful bill had something very troubling in there … that said it would override even local zoning decisions for data centers,” said Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.). “It’s a state and local issue, and I think if we try to override their ability to regulate that stuff, it’s very dangerous.”
‘Pay their own way’
A few Republican outliers have gone further than their colleagues in raising alarms about the potential energy and water impacts of large-scale data-center expansion.
Greene, who is retiring after clashes with Trump, warned on the social media site X that “rushed AI expansion and data centers being built all over the country with no plan … has massive future implications.”
Hawley echoed those concerns. “What I do not want to have happen is what has happened in Virginia, where they come in and everybody’s prices go way, way, way up,” Hawley said. “That is a bad deal, and I do not want to see that happen in Missouri.”
But the vast majority of Republicans interviewed by POLITICO’s E&E News, even those usually tempted to question the party line, said the country cannot slow data-center construction.
“We are in a race for AI with China, so data centers are a part of that,” said former House Freedom Caucus Chair Scott Perry (R-Pa.). “We simply can’t afford to slow down the build-out.”
Hill Republicans see two main tools for protecting ratepayers: advancing broad permitting law reform and backing state efforts to ensure companies “pay their own way” and secure local buy-in.
Permitting reform seeks to accelerate approval of new energy projects, especially natural gas, coal and nuclear. Republicans say increasing production of reliable, baseload energy would mitigate price increases.
Legislation on the House floor this week reflects that push, though whether Congress can reach a bipartisan deal that could get the president’s signature remains in doubt.
Members of both parties are also discussing bolstering the grid, but Republicans are divided over cost, land use and states’ rights issues.
GOP lawmakers say they want state and local regulators, particularly utility commissions, to ensure tech companies shoulder the cost of serving massive new loads.
“In Ohio, there’s a ruling that 85 percent of the energy cost is on the data center,” said Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Energy Chair Bob Latta (R-Ohio). “Basically, if you’re putting them in, then those expenses will be borne by that company that’s investing into it.”
The rule requires data-center customers to pay for 85 percent of the power they subscribe to — even if actual use falls below that level — to prevent other ratepayers from subsidizing costly grid upgrades.
Perry said data center developers “should have an eye” on bringing their own independent generation to supply their power, a concept known as co-location. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is currently moving to clarify rules for the practice.
Republicans also argue that local governments should retain the authority to reject data centers that don’t fit community needs.
“This is why we have these planning and zoning processes,” Baird said. “The local people have a chance to put in their say.”
Democrats see an opening
National Republicans’ largely hands-off approach reflects their belief that states and localities — not Congress — should take the lead on data centers and AI.
“In Ohio, we’re in great shape,” said Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio) when asked whether data-center growth should be slowed. “The state just passed a law that allows these data centers to account for their own grid power, so we’re in great shape.”
But some experts and watchdog groups warn that state-level policies may be insufficient to manage the massive grid costs associated with data centers.
“Federal lawmakers should not assume at face value that these state regulators have solved these problems on their own, even if that’s what they tell them,” said Kent Chandler, a resident senior fellow at the center-right think tank R Street Institute.
One watchdog recently urged PJM Interconnection — the regional grid operator serving 13 mid-Atlantic states and the District of Columbia — to pause new data-center additions until reliability concerns are addressed.
The independent monitor also asked federal regulators to issue a ruling directing PJM to add new data centers only when it has the infrastructure in place to serve those new customers
A group of senators — including Democrat Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut and independent Bernie Sanders of Vermont — blasted the Trump administration for “cozying up” to Big Tech by accelerating data-center development.
“Since his second inauguration, President Trump has cozied up to Meta, Google, Oracle, OpenAI, and other Big Tech companies, fast-tracking and pushing for the buildout of power-hungry data centers across the country,” they wrote in a letter to the administration.
The issue could become a Democratic selling point in the upcoming midterm elections. In Pennsylvania’s 7th District, Democratic primary candidate and former energy engineer Carol Obando-Derstine is attacking first-term Rep. Ryan Mackenzie (R-Pa.) for not doing enough to properly prepare for the energy and water impacts of a proposed data center in the district.
“Mackenzie and Republicans are taking us in the wrong direction. It’s not innovation — it’s irresponsible,” she said in an interview. “We might have water and power outages, and we might have our communities and our local taxpayers paying decades into the future for billion-dollar industries.”
That doesn’t mean Democrats are universally hostile to data centers. Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro has been an AI and data center champion.
Also, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy and California Gov. Gavin Newsom — a potential Democratic presidential candidate — have vetoed bills to increase data center scrutiny.
And in response to environmentalists calling for a national moratorium on data centers, many Democrats said they didn’t think that was the solution.
Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), the ranking member on the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, said of the green groups, “They should call for an above-all energy plan that allows for the construction of renewables to play into that demand for the future.”
But a Trump executive order seeking to limit state power could give Democrats a powerful talking point. And Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) told E&E News he expects data centers to become a major front in Democrats’ affordability messaging.
Schiff is drafting legislation that would encourage developers to bring their own electricity generation and include other provisions designed to protect ratepayers.
“Utility bills are going to be the next third rail,” he said. “As we saw in the governor’s race in New Jersey, it’s a potent issue already. It’s going to become even more so, and anyone seen as forcing consumers to pay more will likely pay the price themselves.”
This story also appears in Energywire.
