The US Senate is set to vote on the Ratepayer Protection Bill, which aims to protect families and small businesses from paying for energy infrastructure needed by large electricity users like data centers.
What happened
The legislation, backed by Ohio Republican Sen. Jon Husted, has already received overwhelming support in the U.S. House of Representatives, with only three members of Congress opposing its passage. The bill would require states to consider establishing standards for energy regulators when connecting large electricity users to their grids, ensuring that these companies pay for the power generation, transmission lines, and other infrastructure needed to serve their facilities.
Sen. Husted stated that the principle behind the Ratepayer Protection Act is that "if you create the cost, you should pay the cost," and that it will help the American people keep more of what they earn. The expected vote on the legislation comes after Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-NM) blocked the proposed unanimous consent on September 18, saying that the legislation was "not enough."
The Ratepayer Protection Act is similar to the Ratepayer Protection Pledge, which was introduced by President Donald Trump and signed by major companies including Amazon, Google, and Microsoft. The pledge aims to promote economic growth, lower costs, protect consumers, and dominate the global artificial intelligence race.
