Senator blocks House-passed data-center cost bill, offers alternative legislation
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A Senate Democrat halted a bipartisan House measure that would require tech firms to cover data-center energy costs, arguing it fell short and introducing a different bill aimed at broader consumer protection.
A Senate Democrat prevented the Senate from approving the Ratepayer Protection Act, a bipartisan House bill that would shift the cost of new electricity infrastructure for data centers onto the companies that use it. The measure passed the House 417-3 on Wednesday, but Senator Martin Heinrich of New Mexico, the ranking member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, used a unanimous-consent request to block it on Thursday, saying the proposal does not go far enough.
"The senator from Ohio and I agree on one thing, AI data centers can mean higher costs for American families, and in a lot of places they already do," Heinrich said. "But the Ratepayer Protection Act falls short of what we need to do to respond."
Heinrich introduced his own legislation, the GRID Savings Act, which he said would more effectively lower energy prices and require data-center operators to engage with local communities, conserve water, and reduce air pollution through clean energy and battery storage.
"My bill is what is needed to start to bring down energy prices," he added. "We also need to do more to get data centers to actually engage with communities from the beginning to the end, and we need to conserve local resources, especially water. And we need to protect communities from air pollution by using clean energy and battery storage."
Republican Senator Jon Husted of Ohio, who had sought unanimous consent to pass the House bill, described it as a meaningful bipartisan step to protect consumers from higher electricity prices. Another Ohio Republican, Senator Bernie Moreno, objected to Heinrich’s move, arguing the House bill would have provided immediate relief.
"The term do-nothing Congress exists for a reason. We absolutely accomplished that right now," Moreno said.
The debate occurs amid heightened voter concern over energy affordability ahead of the midterm elections, with data-center and artificial-intelligence issues becoming increasingly prominent in campaign discussions.