House Passes Data Center Cost Bill, But Senate Stalls Action

The U.S. House of Representatives passed the Ratepayer Protection Act with overwhelming bipartisan support on September 17, 2026, but the legislation stalled in the Senate the following day after a Democratic objection, leaving its future uncertain ahead of the November midterm elections. The House approved the bill, H.R. 9340, by a vote of 417 to 3. The legislation would require state utility regulators to consider adopting standards for large electricity users, specifically those consuming over 100 megawatts, to cover the full incremental costs of grid upgrades needed to serve their facilities. The bill aims to prevent these infrastructure costs from being passed on to residential consumers through higher electricity rates. The bill's passage came amid growing public concern over rising energy costs linked to the rapid expansion of data centers, which are critical for powering artificial intelligence development. Proponents argued the measure was a necessary step to shield households from bearing the financial burden of new power generation and transmission infrastructure. However, the legislation hit a procedural wall in the Senate on September 18.