House Passes Data-Center Cost Bill, With State Adoption Voluntary

The House has backed a bipartisan plan to keep the grid costs of large AI data centers off ordinary electricity bills. The Ratepayer Protection Act passed 417-3 on Sept. 16. If enacted, it would set a federal standard for states to consider when deciding whether data centers should fund the power infrastructure they need. State adoption would remain voluntary.

The bill, H.R. 9340, was sponsored by Rep. Gabe Evans, R-Colo., and Rep. Kathy Castor, D-Fla. It focuses on a practical consequence of AI expansion: who pays when a new computing facility requires more generation, transmission lines, or other grid upgrades.

A cost rule that states can choose

The proposed standard applies to AI data centers with electricity demand of at least 100 megawatts. States could adopt it to require those facilities to cover the full incremental costs of infrastructure built to serve them, rather than passing the costs to consumers. The bill would amend the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978.

Support for the goal, not the scope

The broad vote did not settle whether the bill is enough. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries called it a step forward while saying more action was needed on broader AI concerns. Democrats including Reps. Veronica Escobar, Debbie Dingell, and Pramila Jayapal voted for it while criticizing its limits.

Environmental groups made a more fundamental objection. The League of Conservation Voters said voluntary state action could leave ratepayers unprotected. Food & Water Watch argued that the measure could speed data-center construction while offering questionable ways for companies to claim they are funding their own power, and called for a pause on new AI data centers.

What the House vote leaves unresolved

• The Senate has its own data-center bills, but none had advanced.
• The legislation does not address researchers’ warnings that AI could cause human extinction.
• Whether state regulators would adopt the federal standard if it becomes law.

A response to a local backlash

The vote lands as data-center development has become a neighborhood political issue. An NBC News Decision Desk poll found that nearly 70% of respondents opposed AI data-center construction in their neighborhoods. The House measure addresses electricity infrastructure costs, leaving its passage into law—and its eventual use by states—as the next tests.