Riley helps pass bipartisan bill to hold data centers accountable
The U.S. House passed the Ratepayer Protection Act, supported by Representative Josh Riley, to prevent utility companies from charging families and small businesses for grid upgrades needed by massive data centers. This legislation mandates that large tech companies developing these data centers cover the full energy and infrastructure costs themselves. The aim is to protect consumers from increased power bills due to the high electricity demand of data centers.
The U.S. House of Representatives has passed the Ratepayer Protection Act, a bipartisan bill championed by Representative Josh Riley (NY-19), aimed at holding data centers accountable for their energy infrastructure costs. This legislation seeks to prevent utility companies from passing the expenses of grid upgrades, necessitated by the significant power demands of large data centers, onto residential and small business ratepayers.
According to Riley's office, massive data center projects are rapidly expanding across Upstate New York and the nation, requiring substantial electricity. Under current regulations, utility providers can often transfer the costs of necessary infrastructure improvements to everyday consumers, rather than the tech companies that generate the demand. This practice has contributed to utilities across the country requesting over $29 billion in electricity rate increases in the first half of 2025 alone.
The Ratepayer Protection Act mandates state utility regulators to create new rules ensuring that large tech companies building data centers are responsible for the full energy and infrastructure costs associated with their projects. Representative Riley emphasized that "Upstate New Yorkers shouldn’t be forced to foot the bill for massive data centers that none of us asked for." This bill builds on Riley's previous legislative efforts, including the FAIR Data Act, which also aimed to mitigate the impact of data centers on New York energy bills.