The top Democrat on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee is promising an aggressive legislative agenda to address rising electricity demand from data centers should his party regain power next year.
In the latest episode of the POLITICO Energy podcast, Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) teased legislation he is releasing Monday designed to prevent data centers from shifting infrastructure costs onto utility customers, which he said would be a top priority should he become chair next year.
Heinrich said his GRID Savings Act, shared exclusively with POLITICO, would give “teeth” to voluntary commitments made by Big Tech companies and utilities through the White House’s Ratepayer Protection Pledge by requiring large power users to pay for the infrastructure needed to hook up to the grid.
“These hyperscalers need to get some sobriety and realize that they are not gonna be able to push their costs off on consumers and we should have the teeth to do that,” Heinrich said on the podcast. “Pledges are great, but show me the reality.”
