US House passes first bill on data center power costs

The US House of Representatives on Wednesday passed legislation aimed at shielding households from electricity cost increases linked to the rapid expansion of data centers, marking the first time the chamber has advanced a bill directly addressing the economic consequences of the industry's growth.

The Ratepayer Protection Act would require state utility regulators to consider whether large electricity consumers, including data centers, should bear the incremental costs of power infrastructure built to serve them.

The vote highlights the tangled politics of the US data center boom. President Donald Trump has strongly backed data center development as central to American leadership in artificial intelligence. At the same time, lawmakers from both parties are confronting mounting voter anxiety over rising electricity bills tied to the sector's surging power demand.

A poll published this week by the University of Massachusetts Amherst found that only 11% of Americans would support an AI data center being built in their community.

House Republican leaders brought the bill to the floor before lawmakers leave Washington for the November 3 midterm elections.