The House passed H.R. 9340, the Ratepayer Protection Act, by a vote of 417-3 on September 16, sending the measure to the Senate Legislative Calendar as Calendar No. 684. The bill, introduced by Rep. Gabe Evans (R-CO) with Rep. Kathy Castor (D-FL) as original cosponsor, would amend the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 to establish a federal standard requiring large-load customers, defined as data center operators with an aggregate peak demand of at least 100 megawatts at a single site or campus, to bear the full incremental cost of grid upgrades needed to serve them. State utility regulators would generally have one year to begin considering the standard and two years to complete that review; the bill does not mandate adoption. The Congressional Budget Office estimated no federal budget impact, though it classified state compliance costs as an intergovernmental mandate it expects to be small.
The legislation creates the first federal framework specifically targeting cost allocation for data center grid upgrades, directly affecting how utilities in every state structure rates for large AI and cloud computing customers. If enacted, it would require data center operators with loads of 100 megawatts or more to provide financial assurances or upfront contributions before utilities invest in supporting infrastructure, shifting risk away from residential and small commercial ratepayers at a time when data centers account for an estimated 4% to 5% of U.S. electricity consumption.
A legislative body passing a bill directly protecting ratepayers from data center costs is a significant formal regulatory action with broad industry implications. This is a distinct event not covered in the already-published list.