Overview
- The House Energy and Commerce Committee approved the Ratepayer Protection Act in a 52-0 vote on Tuesday, advancing the bill to the full House for further consideration.
- Sponsored by Reps. Gabe Evans (R-Colo.) and Kathy Castor (D-Fla.), the bipartisan bill directs state regulators to consider standards that make new data centers consuming more than 100 megawatts cover the costs of added generation, transmission, and distribution.
- Committee leaders narrowed the measure before the vote so it specifically targets data centers rather than all large industrial loads, a change that drew criticism from the Data Center Coalition for singling out the industry.
- Some Democrats and local officials say the bill leaves major questions unresolved, citing concerns about water use for cooling in drought-prone regions and calls from some lawmakers for a pause on new data center builds.
- A companion Senate bill from Sen. Jon Husted has been filed and analysts say the legislation could shift how utilities recover costs and influence state and local moratoria as data center electricity demand climbs in coming years.