A day after the first major bill designed to curb the costs associated with data centers and artificial intelligence passed the House with flying colors, the legislation hit a wall in the Senate on Thursday.
The bill, the Ratepayer Protection Act, requires states to consider — but does not mandate — standards that would require AI data centers to pay the full cost of infrastructure upgrades to their facilities, instead of passing those costs on to consumers.
Sen. Jon Husted (R-Ohio), who sponsored the bill and is in a tough reelection race in a state where data centers are a hot issue, tried to pass the measure through unanimous consent to bypass the Senate’s lengthy legislative process. The procedure requires the agreement of all 100 senators.
Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-New Mexico) objected, arguing the bill is just a recommendation that doesn’t sufficiently protect Americans from the costs of the booming industry. The blockade makes it all but certain an AI-related bill will not pass Congressbefore the midterms, even as the issue continues to be a focal point of anger across the country.
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“The Ratepayer Protection Act falls short of what we need to do to respond,” Heinrich said while objecting to the bill on the Senate floor. “Rather than voluntary pledges or suggestions to states, Congress needs to pass real legislation with real teeth.”
Husted blasted Democrats for striking the bill down, writing on X that “Senate Democrats want Big Tech to get a free pass while your electric bill goes up.”
“Before we leave here, we ought to do something on a matter that the American people have asked us to do something about,” Husted said on the Senate floor. “It is a shame that this opportunity has been missed today, but I will be back to push this issue forward.”
Other Democrats also criticized the bill as not going far enough.
“We have to make sure we have something with enforcement,” Sen. Gary Peters (D-Michigan) told The Washington Sun. “I think we all agree that they should cover the cost, but we got to make sure they actually do that. Otherwise, it’s just a hollow bill.”
Husted is defending his seat in a race the Cook Political Report has deemed a toss-up. Former Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown, Husted’s challenger, has made the costs of the facilities a major point in his campaign, running TV ads labeling Husted “the face of data centers.”
Some Democrats said they saw the move to advance the bill as a political maneuver to help Husted.
“Data centers is a key issue, and Jon Husted is in a very tough race for election to the United States Senate,” said Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Illinois), the chamber’s minority whip. “This is a frequent approach, last-minute legislation on a subject that is controversial.”
Though most House Democrats backed the measure, Senate Democrats pointed to a number of other bills that have been introduced in the upper chamber that could more forcefully regulate costs stemming from data centers.
Heinrich pointed to his own bill, the GRID Savings Act, which would require large users of electricity to abide by rules similar to those for power plants and would direct the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to establish new rules around data centers’ electricity usage. He sought consent to pass his bill, but Republicans objected.
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