House Passes Bipartisan Legislation on Data Center Rate Hikes
The Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed legislation Friday intended to shield ratepayers from increasing utility bills associated with data centers and the increased demand for electricity they can bring.
The House passed the Ratepayer Protection Act 417-3, which is one of the first actions Congress has taken on the issue, with co-sponsors of the bill saying that the costs to power data centers should not be passed onto ordinary electric customers.
President Donald Trump, meanwhile, has criticized opposition to data centers, saying that their construction makes states wealthy, and adding that other countries such as China are pleased to see an anti-data center sentiment take root in the US. It remains unclear whether Trump would sign regulations on data centers into law.
The bill would recommend to consider — although crucially, not require they enact — a federal level regulation requiring data center developers to provide their own electricity for their projects, covering the cost of transmission or generation upgrades.
According to Politico, the Senate still has three weeks to take this bill up for consideration before members of Congress recess for the midterm elections.
Data centers have become a hot-button issue in many congressional and gubernatorial races across the country, with both Democrats and Republicans cooling on data centers — including some who initially supported them.
Democrats who supported the bill said it was a good start, but added that it should not be the end of Congress’ action on this issue, which has inspired protest movements and legislation from coast to coast.
Some members of Congress have called for an overall moratorium on new data center construction, and governors in some states, including Texas, have already enacted limited bans on data centers.
Though the bill, if passed, would require states to debate regulations, many states already are. For a more detailed breakdown of what states are doing, see some of T&D World’s previous coverage on the issue.
About the Author
Jeff Postelwait
Managing Editor
Jeff Postelwait is a writer and editor with a background in newspapers and online editing who has been writing about the electric utility industry since 2008. Jeff is senior editor for T&D World magazine and sits on the advisory board of the T&D World Conference and Exhibition. Utility Products, Power Engineering, Powergrid International and Electric Light & Power are some of the other publications in which Jeff's work has been featured. Jeff received his degree in journalism news editing from Oklahoma State University and currently operates out of Oregon.