House Energy and Commerce Democrats are offering cautious backing to legislation up for a hearing this week that would tackle surging data center power demand — but warn the GOP can’t address the problem without bipartisan buy-in.
The Energy Subcommittee hearing will consider bills aimed at shifting the costs of booming data center demand onto developers rather than consumers, while also strengthening the grid to handle rising electricity needs.
The push marks a notable shift for Hill Republicans, who have previously questioned whether federal legislation on data centers is necessary given the issue often falls to state and local governments.
“While we work to win the race to AI dominance with China and keep the United States at the forefront of innovation, we must continue to deploy commonsense solutions to meet our industrial-scale energy needs while protecting consumers,” said full committee Chair Brett Guthrie (R-Ky.) and subcommittee Chair Bob Latta (R-Ohio) in a statement.
