GoKawiil
Tech News
The US Senate voted 57-43 on September 30, falling three votes short of the 60 needed to advance the Ratepayer Protection Act, killing the bill after it had already passed the House. The legislation, introduced by Senator Jon Husted, would have directed state regulators to consider requiring data centers and other large power consumers to cover the infrastructure costs tied to their energy use.
The U.S. House approved H.R. 9340, the Ratepayer Protection Act, which amends the 1978 Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act to require state regulators and non-regulated utilities to consider adopting a federal standard within two years. Under the bill, data centers drawing 100 megawatts or more would have to cover the full incremental cost of generation, transmission, or distribution upgrades built to serve them, even if they later cancel their power contracts.
Governor Maura Healey signed an executive order requiring data centers with peak demand above 25 megawatts to supply their own clean power meeting state renewable energy standards, or fund new generation or pay into a ratepayer protection fund. The order also discourages communities from signing non-disclosure agreements with developers and pauses a recently enacted data center sales tax exemption while regulators implement the new rules.
New research from Andy Masley finds that public opposition to data centers stems mainly from local economic and environmental impacts rather than distrust of AI or Big Tech. Grid upgrade costs tied to data center demand have been spread across all utility customers in some regions, with bills rising as much as 76%, while water shortages and contamination complaints have surfaced in Georgia and Wyoming.
In an interview with Michael Cohen, President Trump dismissed community opposition to new data centers as a mistake, arguing they bring jobs and no longer strain power grids since companies now build their own power plants under the Ratepayer Protection Pledge. He framed the buildout as essential to keeping US AI leadership ahead of China.