Rep. Gabe Evans Introduces Bill to Protect Ratepayers From Data Center Energy Costs
Rep. Gabe Evans has introduced the bipartisan Ratepayer Protection Act, aiming to make large data centers fully responsible for the costs of new energy infrastructure required to power them. This bill seeks to protect families and small businesses from increased energy costs associated with the growing demands of the AI boom and data center expansion across the nation. The legislation has unanimously passed the House Energy and Commerce Committee and is awaiting a vote in the full House.
U.S. Representative Gabe Evans (R-CO) has introduced the bipartisan Ratepayer Protection Act, a federal bill designed to shield American families and small businesses from bearing the increased energy costs associated with the growing demand from data centers. Citing the "AI boom" and the massive electricity requirements of new data centers, Rep. Evans emphasized that the costs for necessary power generation, transmission lines, and grid upgrades should be borne by the entities creating the demand.
The proposed legislation mandates that large energy-load data centers be 100% responsible for the costs of new energy infrastructure built to serve them. It also requires states without specific data center energy demand standards to initiate hearings and develop state-specific determinations for these facilities. Furthermore, the bill aims to protect consumers from being left with costs if a data center scales back operations or ceases to exist after infrastructure has been developed for its use.
Rep. Evans highlighted the bill's bipartisan support, noting it has garnered 42 cosponsors and unanimously passed the House Energy and Commerce Committee by a 52-0 vote. It is scheduled for consideration by the full House of Representatives this week. He also linked the initiative to President Trump's Ratepayer Protection Pledge, which advocates for technology companies to secure and pay for their own power infrastructure to prevent cost shifting to existing customers. The bill's supporters argue it will ensure American energy capacity for AI innovation while protecting consumers and maintaining national competitiveness against countries like China.