US House passes first bill addressing economic impact of data center boom amid surging electricity costs

The U.S. House of Representatives has overwhelmingly passed the bipartisan Ratepayer Protection Act (417–3), marking a major legislative response to the rapid economic and infrastructure strains driven by the artificial intelligence data center boom.

Introduced by Representatives Gabe Evans (R-CO) and Kathy Castor (D-FL), the legislation targets cost-shifting by requiring state utility regulators to consider specialized standards for high-capacity data centers and hyper scalers consuming over 100 megawatts of electricity.

The vote underscores the complicated politics surrounding the data center boom.

President Donald Trump strongly backs data center development as critical to leadership in artificial intelligence. Earlier this week he said data centers make people and states wealthy, calling them the "oil of the next 20, 25 years."

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.

According to a poll by the University of Massachusetts Amherst published this week, just 11% of Americans would support construction of an AI data center in their community.

Under the framework, these massive facilities would be required to fully cover the incremental costs of new power generation, transmission lines, and local grid infrastructure upgrades rather than passing those expenses onto everyday residential and small-business ratepayers.

The measure essentially codifies key elements of the White House's voluntary Ratepayer Protection Pledge—backed by tech giants like Google, Microsoft, Amazon, and OpenAI—which mandates that large tech operators secure or fund their own power sources.

While supporters praised the bill as a crucial shield for household utility bills amid surging power demands, critics and environmental advocates argued it does not go far enough because it establishes a federal recommendation rather than a strict nationwide mandate.

The bill now heads to the Senate for consideration.

House Republican leaders moved the bill before lawmakers leave Washington ahead of the November 3 midterm elections.