Sept 16 (Reuters) – The U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday passed a bill aimed at protecting households from electricity cost increases tied to the expansion of data centers, the first time the chamber has advanced legislation directly addressing economic concerns linked to the industry’s growth.
The Ratepayer Protection Act would require state utility regulators to consider whether large electricity users, including data centers, should bear the incremental costs of power infrastructure built to serve them.
The vote underscores the complicated politics surrounding the U.S. data center boom.
U.S. President Donald Trump strongly backs data center development as critical to leadership in artificial intelligence.
At the same time, lawmakers from both parties have faced growing constituent concerns over rising electricity costs associated with the industry’s surging power demand.
Just 11% of Americans would support construction of an AI data center in their community, according to a poll by the University of Massachusetts Amherst published this week.
House Republican leaders moved the bill before lawmakers leave Washington ahead of the November 3 midterm elections.
(Reporting by Nichola Groom and Kanishka Singh)
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