House Votes 417-3 to Make Data Centers Pay Their Own Power Bills; Three Dissenters Reportedly Cooling Something
The Ratepayer Protection Act sailed through in a rare show of bipartisanship, opposed only by lawmakers who "have questions about the definition of 'pay.'"
WASHINGTON — The House of Representatives on Tuesday passed the Ratepayer Protection Act by a vote of 417 to 3, requiring large data-center operators to cover the cost of the grid upgrades they require rather than passing them on to households, in a bill so uncontroversial that its floor debate concluded 11 minutes early and members used the remaining time to ask each other what "incremental" meant.
The three dissenting votes have not been explained. Two of the lawmakers declined to comment. The third issued a statement reading, in full, "The bill fails to account for the transformational nature of AI infrastructure and also I am not in a position to discuss the property in Loudoun County."
The legislation was prompted by a wave of residential electricity rate increases in regions where hyperscale data centers have been built, which utilities had previously attributed to "weather," "the market," and, in one filing, "everyone."
Industry groups responded cautiously. The Coalition for Responsible Compute, which represents seven companies that together consume the electricity of Argentina, said the bill "raises important questions" and that its members "have always believed in paying our fair share, once a shared definition of 'our' is established."
One lobbyist, speaking on background, said the industry's main concern was precedent. "Today it's 'pay for the substation you needed,'" she said. "Tomorrow it's 'pay for the water.' Then it's 'pay for the town.' Where does it end?"
The bill now moves to the Senate, where a hold has already been placed by a senator who says he needs time to study the issue, and who is, according to a schedule reviewed by reporters, studying it at a golf course owned by a coalition member.