The House Energy and Commerce Committee has narrowed the scope of its data center energy legislation to focus specifically on the sprawling facilities generating nationwide concern.
The Ratepayer Protection Act — H.R. 9340, sponsored by Reps. Gabe Evans (R-Colo.) and Kathy Castor (D-Fla.) — would require states to consider adopting a federal standard directing data centers to pay the full cost of new generation and transmission upgrades needed to serve them.
Ahead of a markup that began Monday and will stretch into Tuesday, committee leaders released a substitute amendment that narrows the bill to apply specifically to data centers. Previously, the bill language could be applied to projects with a peak electricity demand of 100 megawatts or more.
The change could potentially draw ire from data center and technology companies, who have maintained they should be treated similarly to other large power users. It could also be potential fodder for lawsuits. Google and Microsoft have backed the Ratepayer Protection Act.
Lawmakers from both parties on Monday appeared ready to back the legislation, though Democrats said they would also push for other bills to address data center pollution and water concerns.
“Our communities are focused this Congress on winning the race to AI dominance while securing our grid. But to help ensure that our communities are not paying for the associated electricity costs of the new data centers, I’m glad we could find bipartisan support for the Ratepayer Protection Act,” said Energy and Commerce Chair Brett Guthrie (R-Ky.)
Ranking member Frank Pallone (D-N.J.) has endorsed a national moratorium on data center construction. But he took a slightly more conciliatory tone Monday, saying that, “If Congress doesn’t act to put sufficient guardrails in place, we may need a moratorium on data centers.”
“The bills before us today are a good start in addressing the impact that data centers have on our power bills, but they don’t go far enough to ensure that big tech and other data center owners fully pay for the energy use and demand that they create,” Pallone said.
Pallone’s message was echoed by Reps. Doris Matsui (D-Calif.) and Paul Tonko (D-N.Y.), both of whom advocated for the committee to pass stronger legislation on data centers.
“We are not doing what this moment demands of us,” Tonko said.
The Energy and Commerce Committee has pushed hard for the Ratepayer Protection Act in the past weeks, with Guthrie saying he hoped to see a floor vote ahead of August recess — now a long shot, with the House set to leave at the end of the week.
Senate companion
Momentum for the bill was buoyed last week when Sen. Jon Husted (R-Ohio) introduced a Senate companion bill, S. 5028. Husted’s position on data centers has been a point of attack for Democratic election opponent Sherrod Brown.
Husted’s office said Monday that the senator “is encouraged by the bipartisan support in the House and will continue working with ENR to get the Ratepayer Protection Act across the finish line in the Senate,” referring to the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.
Energy and Natural Resources Chair Mike Lee (R-Utah) said last month of data center legislation, “I don’t currently have that identified as a priority.”
Nico Portuondo contributed to this report.
