House Energy and Commerce Chair Brett Guthrie said Wednesday he is interested in moving forward with legislation to address the impact of data centers.
Lawmakers on Capitol Hill have been divided on whether a new federal law is needed on the issue. But Guthrie, a Kentucky Republican, joined House leaders in promising action earlier this year following a push from the White House, which has extracted a pledge from companies to pay for their own energy use.
When asked about data center concerns during POLITICO’s Energy Summit in Washington, Guthrie said, “We have the ratepayer protection pledge, which we want to put into statute.”
Guthrie’s committee held a hearing in April on draft legislation called the “Ratepayer Protection Act,” which would amend the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 to require large electricity users — such as data centers — to cover the full cost of the infrastructure needed to serve them.
