Update
Ratepayer Protection Act Fails Senate Vote
The Ratepayer Protection Act, aimed at protecting households and small businesses from paying for infrastructure needed by large data centers, failed a procedural vote in the U.S. Senate with 57 senators voting to advance the measure and 43 opposed. The Act would require state utility regulators and certain utilities to consider standards under which computing facilities with peak electricity demand of at least 100 megawatts would cover the full incremental costs of power generation and grid upgrades needed to serve them. The Senate debate centered on whether asking states to consider a cost recovery standard goes far enough, and the Act is expected to continue to be a topic of discussion in the upcoming Congress.