A White House directive on artificial intelligence is putting renewed pressure on Congress to act on data center energy use worries.
Congressional leaders have not yet unified behind one approach to regulate the data centers that make artificial intelligence possible. It seemed unlikely any legislation would get serious consideration. That may all change.
The White House on Friday released a policy road map for Congress to legislate on AI. Top leaders followed up with a pledge to act on legislation that would implement the plan.
“AI has begun to demonstrate its potential to improve Americans’ lives. To ensure we continue to harness its potential and beat China in the global AI race, Congress must take action,” said a statement from House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) and House Energy and Commerce Chair Brett Guthrie (R-Ky.).
They said Republicans would work with Democrats to “enact a national framework that unleashes the full potential of AI, cements the U.S. as the global leader, and provides important protections for American families.”
The policy framework takes a light touch on most aspects of AI regulation, but it makes clear Congress must “ensure that residential ratepayers do not experience increased electricity costs as a result of new AI data center construction and operation.”
Michael Kratsios, director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, took a stronger tone on social media Friday, saying that “Congress should codify” the “ratepayer protection pledge” that President Donald Trump unveiled earlier this month.
The pledge, signed by companies like Google and Amazon, requires tech companies to provide or pay for their own power use. The White House guidance also calls on Congress to “streamline federal permitting for AI infrastructure construction and operation.”
The House Republican response is a chance in tone from leaders being relatively silent about data center legislation. Pending bills have gained no traction so far.
Reps. Greg Landsman (D-Ohio) and Don Beyer (D-Va.) have a bill, H.R. 6529, that would require the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to hold a conference with operators and then issue a report on how to protect ratepayers.
Landsman’s H.R. 8033, the “No Harm Data Centers Act,” would require studies of the environmental effects of data centers. It would also give FERC new powers to help set rates.
A bill last week from Reps. Sean Casten (D-Ill.) and Mike Levin (D-Calif.), the “Energy Bills Relief Act,” H.R. 7977, includes provisions to make sure data centers pay for their energy. But other pro-renewable energy provisions are meant to outline a Democratic plan for retaking power rather than entice Republicans.
In the Senate, high-profile bills focused on data centers are pending before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. Chair Mike Lee’s (R-Utah) office did not respond to request for comment.
Ranking member Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) said earlier this month that he would like a markup of data center proposals. “I would definitely welcome that, and this is one of those areas where Mike Lee and I have been somewhat aligned,” Heinrich said.
Sens. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) have put forward what may be the preeminent bipartisan bill on data centers, the “Guaranteeing Rate Insulation from Data Centers (GRID) Act,” S. 3852.
It would mandate that all new data centers use their own power sources separate from the grid and that all currently operating data centers migrate off the grid within 10 years.
Hawley’s office did not respond to requests for comment on the White House’s new AI guidance. But the Missouri Republican said earlier this month that Congress should codify Trump’s ratepayer pledge.
“I think getting that codified, making it clear that these companies who I don’t trust any further than I can throw this building should be on the hook for paying their own way — I think that’s the key thing,” Hawley said.
Blumenthal, meanwhile, was one of a number of Democrats to spurn the White House AI framework on Friday. Blumenthal called the entire proposal — which also calls for federal regulations to preempt state laws on AI — “pathetic and a non-starter.”
“This weak proposal is dead-on-arrival in the Senate — I and my Democratic colleagues will block it,” Blumenthal wrote on social media.
Nico Portuondo contributed to this report.
