California Democratic Sen. Adam Schiff is entering the hotly contested political debate over data centers with legislation he says would ensure artificial intelligence developers pay the full cost of their energy demand, instead of ratepayers.
The “Energy Cost Fairness and Reliability Act” is the latest in a growing list of proposals from both Democratic and Republican lawmakers aimed at mitigating the electricity price impacts of energy-hungry data centers.
“Artificial intelligence is already deeply impacting our society, economy and national security, and it is critical that we maintain our international leadership — however, that growth cannot come at the cost of consumers or society,” Schiff said in a statement. “There need to be guardrails that protect Americans’ pocketbooks.”
The bill comes as the Data Center Coalition releases a report Monday, conducted by consulting firm Energy and Environmental Economics, saying people should not blame data centers for rate increases.
