House passes bipartisan bill to shield ratepayers from data center electricity costs

Overview

Updated 1 hour ago

The House voted 417-3 on September 16 to pass the Ratepayer Protection Act, a bill that pushes state regulators to make the largest data centers pay the full cost of the power infrastructure built for them. The goal is to keep America's AI electricity bill off ordinary households.

The bill requires nothing: states must hold hearings and consider new rate standards within two years, but can decline to adopt them. That structure follows a 1982 Supreme Court ruling that bars the federal government from dictating utility rates to states. The Senate now decides the bill's fate, with Majority Leader John Thune floating a vote before November's elections.

Why it matters

The first federal attempt to shift data center grid costs onto the companies building them, not the households paying for new electricity infrastructure.

Questions about this story

Free account needed to ask — your question is kept and asked for you right after sign-up. Answers are public.

No questions yet — be the first to ask.

Key Indicators

417–3

House vote margin

Passed under suspension of the rules, which required two-thirds support from members present.

65%

Americans opposed to a local AI data center

August University of Massachusetts Amherst survey of 1,000 people, spanning both parties.

100 MW

Bill's coverage threshold

A data center drawing this much power serves the equivalent of roughly 70,000 homes.

~50%

States with large-load tariffs already

About half of states already require separate rate structures for data centers, per SAN analysis.

Voices

Curated perspectives — historical figures and your fellow readers.

Ever wondered what historical figures would say about today's headlines?

People Involved

Kathy Castor

U.S. Representative (D-Fla.), co-sponsor

One of the Democratic Party's most vulnerable incumbents this November

Gabe Evans

U.S. Representative (R-Colo.), lead sponsor

Among the GOP's most vulnerable incumbents this cycle

Jon Husted

U.S. Senator (R-Ohio)

Introduced the Senate companion bill

Martin Heinrich

U.S. Senator (D-N.M.), ranking member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee

Opposes the bill as too weak

Rashida Tlaib

U.S. Representative (D-Mich.)

Voted no on September 16

Allison Clements

Former Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) commissioner, principal at 804 Advisory

Calls the bill a limited but useful step

Brett Guthrie

U.S. Representative (R-Ky.)

Supported the bill on the floor

Organizations Involved

U.S. House of Representatives

Legislative body

Passed H.R. 9340, the Ratepayer Protection Act, on September 16, 2026

The lower chamber of Congress, whose 417-3 vote sent the Ratepayer Protection Act to the Senate.

United States Senate

Legislative body

Considering companion legislation from Sen. Jon Husted

The upper chamber, where Majority Leader John Thune has floated passing the House bill before November's elections.

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC)

Federal agency

Source of the legal framework limiting the bill's reach

The agency at the center of the 1982 Supreme Court case that bars the federal government from dictating utility rate structures to states.

White House Ratepayer Protection Pledge

Executive initiative

Voluntary agreement the House bill partly codifies

A voluntary agreement signed by more than 300 utilities, electric cooperatives, and hyperscalers to keep data center costs off residential bills.

Timeline

November 1978 September 2026

3 events Latest: Yesterday

September 2026
House passes the Ratepayer Protection Act
Latest Legislation

The House votes 417-3 to send the bill to the Senate, requiring states to hold hearings on making large data centers bear grid upgrade costs.
Yesterday
June 1982
FERC v. Mississippi decided
Legal

The Supreme Court rules the federal government can require states to consider standards but cannot dictate utility rate structures.
June 1st, 1982
November 1978
PURPA signed into law
Legislation

Congress passes the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act, pushing states to consider energy conservation and rate reform.
November 9th, 1978

Scenarios

Senate clears the bill before the midterms

Possible Resolves by Jan 3, 2027

Discussed by: Senate Majority Leader John Thune; Sen. Jon Husted's office

Thune said the House bill could clear the Senate before the November elections, likely through unanimous consent given the crowded floor agenda. Husted introduced the companion bill and is talking with senators about moving it. Passage would send the measure to President Trump's desk, with the first state hearings required within a year of enactment.

Bill dies with the 119th Congress

Possible Resolves by Jan 3, 2027

Discussed by: Sen. Martin Heinrich; The Hill and Roll Call coverage of Senate uncertainty

The bill faces a full Senate calendar and a skeptical top Democrat who calls it toothless. If it misses this month's window, it lands in the post-election lame-duck session, where a dozen other priorities compete for time. Tlaib's opposition from the left shows the measure also lacks a progressive base of support.

Enacted, but states change little

Likely Resolves by Sep 16, 2028

Discussed by: Allison Clements, former FERC commissioner; Tyson Slocum, energy policy advocate quoted by SAN

Even if signed into law, the bill only requires hearings, not adoption. Around half of states already require large-load tariffs for data centers, so the mandate is duplicative there. Clements said the requirement would be "duplicative in a lot of states" and far from sufficient. Advocates see the main value as forcing proceedings in states with no data center rate standards at all.

Historical Context

2 moments from history that rhyme with this story — and how they unfolded.

November 1978 – June 1982

PURPA and FERC v. Mississippi (1978-1982)

Congress passed the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act in 1978 to push states toward energy efficiency and fair rate design. In June 1982, the Supreme Court ruled in FERC v. Mississippi that the federal government can require states to consider a standard, but cannot dictate the rate structure itself.

Then

States ran the required proceedings, and the federal standard-setting model survived with state discretion intact.

Now

The 'consider, don't require' framework became the template for federal rate policy, and the Ratepayer Protection Act uses exactly that structure.

Why this matters now

Explains why the bill directs states to hold hearings rather than imposing rate rules outright: the 1982 ruling forbids the latter.

1980s

Nuclear cost-overrun ratepayer battles (1980s)

Utilities building nuclear plants like Seabrook and Shoreham faced massive cost overruns, and ratepayers and regulators fought over who should pay for over-budget or canceled projects. State commissions began requiring prudence reviews before letting costs pass through to bills.

Then

Some utilities absorbed billions in costs, while ratepayers in other states avoided the full impact of overruns.

Now

Established that big infrastructure costs are not automatically passed to ratepayers; regulators can scrutinize and shift them.

Why this matters now

Today's question is the same: whether new grid infrastructure built for data centers lands on the companies creating the demand or on the households that did not.