Senate blocks data-center electricity bill as cloture fails, 57-43
The Senate on September 30, 2026, failed to advance the Ratepayer Protection Act, voting 57 to 43 on a motion to limit debate and move to the bill. Because cloture requires a three-fifths majority — 60 votes — the motion was rejected, and the motion to proceed was subsequently withdrawn. The vote fell largely along party lines. All 53 Republicans voted yes, joined by Democrats Jon Ossoff, Raphael Warnock, Amy Klobuchar, and Margaret Wood Hassan; 41 Democrats voted no, as did independents Angus King and Bernard Sanders.
The bill, H.R. 9340, passed the House in September. It would amend the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 to add a federal standard for “large-load customers” — defined as non-residential users whose facilities primarily operate data-storage and computing infrastructure with a peak demand of 100 megawatts or more at a single site or campus. Under the standard, a utility's rate for such a customer would be designed to recover the full incremental cost of any generation, transmission, or distribution upgrade needed to serve them — including if the customer later terminates its contract — and utilities would have to require financial assurances or contributions before making those upgrades. The bill directs state regulators and non-regulated utilities to consider the standard, beginning consideration within one year and completing it within two.
The bill's sponsor in the Senate, Sen. Jon Husted of Ohio, urged colleagues to pass it. Husted said he rose “to speak about making life more affordable by lowering electricity prices,” arguing that “when larger data centers come online, the cost of providing that power cannot be pushed onto everyone else.” He said his bill “ensures that large data centers pay their fair share of electricity costs,” and emphasized that it had passed the House 417 to 3. Sen. Bill Hagerty of Tennessee spoke in support, and accused Senate Democrats of blocking the measure, saying, “last week, Senate Democrats blocked it from passing right here on the Senate floor.”
Opponents said the bill would not actually protect ratepayers. Sen. Martin Heinrich of New Mexico said he rose “in opposition to the motion to proceed to H.R. 9340,” arguing that “this bill has no—zero—requirement that data centers actually pay for their own grid upgrades” and calling it “nothing more than a messaging bill on the eve of an election.” Heinrich said that rather than “voluntary pledges or vague suggestions to States, Congress needs to pass a law with real teeth.” Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland said he “cannot vote for a bill that promises protection but lacks the enforcement mechanisms needed to deliver on lowering Americans' electric bills.”
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