House votes 417–3 to make data centers pay for their own power upgrades
The House of Representatives on September 16, 2026, passed the Ratepayer Protection Act (H.R. 9340), a bill designed to keep ordinary electricity customers from footing the bill for grid upgrades needed to power large data centers.
The vote came on a motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended — a procedure that requires a two-thirds majority. It cleared easily, 417 yeas to 3 nays, with 12 members not voting. Because it passed under suspension of the rules, the measure now moves to the Senate.
The bill would amend the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 to create a federal standard aimed at "large-load customers" — defined as non-residential electricity users, such as data centers, that operate information-technology infrastructure and have a peak electric demand of 100 megawatts or more at a single site or campus. Under the standard, state utility regulators and nonregulated utilities would be required to consider rules that make those large customers cover the full, incremental cost of any generation, transmission, or distribution upgrade needed to serve them, including costs left behind if a customer walks away from its contract. Utilities would also have to require such customers to provide financial assurances or contributions before building the upgrades.
H.R. 9340 was introduced on June 18, 2026, by Representative Gabe Evans, a Colorado Republican, along with Representative Kathy Castor, a Florida Democrat. Supporters cast it as a bipartisan response to rising electric bills. During the House debate, Evans said the bill "protects everyday ratepayers from higher electric bills due to unprecedented energy demand from data centers," while Representative Lori Trahan, a Massachusetts Democrat who backed it, said that "if you build the data center, you pay for the data center."
The bill's future in the Senate is uncertain. The day after House passage, Senator Jon Husted, an Ohio Republican, sought to pass H.R. 9340 by unanimous consent, noting it had cleared the House 417 to 3. Senator Martin Heinrich, a New Mexico Democrat, objected, arguing the measure "falls short of what we need to do" and pressing instead for his own bill that would require — rather than ask states to consider — large customers to pay for grid connections. The objection blocked immediate Senate action.
How your representative voted
See how your representative voted
Use your Google, Microsoft, or Apple sign-in to get to your Project Euthyna account. If you don’t have one yet, we’ll create it. We store the census block you live in, and use it to work out who represents you. We do not store your address. We do not sell anything about you, and you can delete your account, and everything in it, whenever you want.
Continuing means you accept our terms of service and privacy policy.