Senate blocks bill to address data center costs
The U.S. Senate blocked the Ratepayer Protection Act in a 57-43 procedural vote, preventing legislation that would have required regulators to consider making large electricity users such as data centers pay for incremental power infrastructure. Democrats argued the measure did not adequately protect households from rising electricity costs and promoted an alternative bill requiring data centers to cover the full cost of grid upgrades.
The Senate failed to advance the Ratepayer Protection Act after a 57-43 vote fell short of the 60 votes required. The legislation would have directed state utility regulators to consider whether large electricity users, including data centers supporting artificial intelligence, should bear the incremental costs of power infrastructure built to serve them.
Senate Republicans, including Sen. Jon Husted, backed the measure as a way to address data center-related electricity costs before the midterm elections. Democrats, led by Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, called it insufficient and promoted the GRID Savings Act, which would require large data centers to pay the full cost of grid upgrades. The bill had passed the House on Sept. 16 by a 417-3 vote but was blocked in the Senate.