US House advances first bill addressing economic impact of data center boom

Consumer rights non-profit Public Citizen said the legislation did not go far enough to protect Americans.

"The Ratepayer Protection Act has very limited ability to actually protect consumers from higher utility rates, as it simply asks states to 'consider' requiring data centers to pay for certain grid interconnection costs," Tyson Slocum, director of the group's energy program, said in a statement. "While a federal mandate forcing states to consider such a step provides opportunities for advocates to press for consumer protections, there are a myriad of other consumer and community impacts from data centers unaddressed in this bill."

U.S. Representative Robert Garcia, a California Democrat, said in advance of the vote the measure would garner significant support from members who are hopeful more reforms will follow.

"Clearly, they're trying to get in front of the data center issue, but the reality is they've done nothing, really, on that,” he said of House Republicans. “I think a lot of their base voters are really angry. There has to be actual real protections put in place for people, and this is not it."