August 24, 2026
Mr. Cuellar introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on Education and Workforce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
To require public disclosure of electricity and water use, infrastructure costs, rate impacts, public financial assistance, and related commitments associated with large data centers, and for other purposes.
Section 1. Short title
This Act may be cited as the Ratepayer Bill of Rights Act of 2026
.
Sec. 2. Ratepayer bill of rights
(a) Findings
(1)
Data centers are driving rapidly growing demand for electricity and water, often with costs and impacts that are not disclosed to the families, farmers, ranchers, small businesses, and communities that bear them. This Act requires data centers to disclose their resource use, protects reliable and affordable electric and water service, and ensures that data centers pay their own costs.
(2)
This Act applies to a data center, or related group of data centers under common ownership or control, with a peak electricity demand of at least 50 megawatts or a water withdrawal of at least 100,000 gallons per day, including expansions that reach those levels.
(b) Rights
(1) Right one: to know a data center’s demands
Every ratepayer has the right to know a covered data center’s projected and actual electricity and water use, sources, and wastewater discharge, disclosed before operations begin, reported every six months for electricity and every three months for water, with prompt notice of any material change.
(2) Right two: to know the agreements, infrastructure costs, rate effects, and public support
Every ratepayer has the right to know what infrastructure will be built to serve a covered data center, its cost, who is paying for it, its effect on bills for households, farms, and small businesses, and what public assistance, permits, and agreements the company received, published in plain language before final approval.
(3) Right three: not to pay a data center’s costs
Protected ratepayers – including but not limited to households, farmers, ranchers, small businesses, schools, and hospitals – have the right not to subsidize a covered data center. The company must pay all project-driven costs, sign a binding cost-recovery agreement, and post adequate financial security before construction begins. No project-driven cost may be shifted to ratepayers through rates, riders, or surcharges, and any improper charge must be refunded with interest within 90 days.
(4) Right four: to reliable and affordable community water
Before a covered data center receives a final water-service commitment, an independent assessment must confirm that sufficient water will remain for households, agriculture, and existing businesses, including during a drought. The company pays all project-driven water costs, and a data center may not receive priority over households, hospitals, or schools during a water emergency.
(5) Right five: to protection of rural water, aquifers, and agriculture
Private wells, rural water systems, farmers, and ranchers have the right to monitoring, notice, and fair compensation if a covered data center harms their water supply. A data center may not draw from an already-overdrawn aquifer without an independent assessment showing no further harm, and must fund enforceable conservation measures tied to its water use.
(6) Right six: to reliable electricity and disclosure of on-site power and emissions
Before a covered data center receives a final electric-service commitment, an independent assessment must confirm it can be served without materially reducing reliability for existing customers. Communities have the right to know the capacity, fuel source, and emissions of any on-site power generation, which may not be used to dodge cost, reliability, or emissions requirements.
(7) Right seven: to advance notice, local information, and a public voice
Affected residents and ratepayers have the right to at least 60 days’ notice and a local public meeting before a final decision, with cost, water, and reliability studies available at least 30 days in advance, in plain language and in English and Spanish where required. Public officials and their families involved in these decisions must disclose relevant financial interests in the project.
(8) Right eight: to public information that cannot be hidden by contract
No contract or confidentiality claim may block disclosure of information this Act requires to be public. Aggregate electricity and water use, costs, public assistance, and emissions may not be withheld as trade secrets, and must be posted to a searchable public database within 30 days.
(9) Right nine: to protection against loopholes and evasion
A company may not use separate entities, meters, tenants, parcels, or project phases to evade this Act. Related or affiliated projects that share infrastructure or are developed together are treated as one project for coverage, and a material expansion of an existing data center reopens its cost, water, and reliability review.
(10) Right ten: to enforcement, refunds, and accountability
Ratepayers have the right to a simple complaint process, and Federal and State regulators may audit compliance, order refunds, and assess civil penalties for violations. Employees who report violations are protected from retaliation, and Federal agencies must publish an annual public accounting of complaints, penalties, and refunds.
(c) Administration
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the Department of Energy, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Department of Labor shall each issue rules and enforce this Act within their existing jurisdictions over transmission and reliability, energy data, environmental and water-quality requirements, and worker retaliation protections, respectively. State, Tribal, and local authorities retain their existing jurisdiction over utility rates, water rights, land use, and permitting, and nothing in this Act stops them from adopting stronger protections.