House Bill on Data Center Electricity Costs Moves Forward with Voluntary Measures

A bipartisan bill intended to address rising electricity prices from data centers advanced through a House subcommittee in mid-June. The legislation includes voluntary provisions for state utility regulators and measures to accelerate data center construction.

The Ratepayer Protection Act would allow state utility commissions to ignore its measures entirely since compliance is not required. A full committee vote originally scheduled for 1 July was delayed.

The package contains provisions that would speed data center construction, prioritize grid connections for the facilities, and create new options for companies to claim they are paying for their own power. Microsoft is among the technology companies that have backed the legislation.

Jim Walsh, policy director with Food and Water Watch, said the bill largely addresses the needs of data centers and utilities rather than ratepayers. "They’re taking care of utilities and taking care of datacenters and the bill is posing as a consumer protection measure when in reality it will increase costs on consumers across the board," Walsh said.

and Data Center Growth

Regions with higher numbers of data centers have seen electricity costs rise by 267 percent over the past five years. The Federal Reserve found wholesale price increases averaging 6 percent related to data centers, with some areas experiencing increases as high as 50 percent.

About 200 new data centers have been built over the last three years to house artificial intelligence infrastructure. Dozens more have been proposed across the United States over the last year.