A Senate Democrat blocked a Republican push on Thursday to quickly pass the House-backed Ratepayer Protection Act, stopping a bill that would have shifted new data center energy infrastructure costs away from consumers and onto tech companies.
The move came a day after the House approved the measure 417 to 3, a margin that showed how broad the support was for forcing the companies behind AI data centers to absorb more of the expense tied to the power they use. Jon Husted of Ohio tried to move the bill through the Senate by unanimous consent, but Martin Heinrich of New Mexico objected.
Heinrich did not dispute the underlying pressure on families. “The senator from Ohio and I agree on one thing, AI data centers can mean higher costs for American families, and in a lot of places they already do,” he said. But he added that the Ratepayer Protection Act “falls short of what we need to do to respond,” and said Congress needed “real legislation with real teeth.”
That objection mattered because the House bill was built as a fast answer to a fast-growing problem: who pays when data centers drive up demand for new energy infrastructure. The measure would have put those costs on tech companies rather than letting them spill over to consumers, a split that has become more urgent as AI expands and electricity bills remain a political flashpoint.
Heinrich then sought unanimous consent for his own GRID Savings Act, saying it was what was needed to start bringing down energy prices. He said data centers should engage with communities “from the beginning to the end,” conserve local resources, especially water, and protect neighborhoods from air pollution through clean energy and battery storage. Bernie Moreno objected to that request, saying Heinrich was blocking the House-passed effort that he said would have given Americans immediate relief.
Husted called the bill “the most meaningful, bipartisan step Congress could take to protect the American people from higher prices for electricity,” and said it was a shame the opportunity had been missed that day. He has faced scrutiny for his previous support for data centers, and the Senate GOP campaign arm warned in a memo last month that the issue is “the anchor hanging around Husted's neck.”
The clash leaves the House vote as a political marker rather than a new policy. With affordability still top of mind as the midterm elections approach, the fight over data centers now turns on whether the Senate will take up Heinrich’s version or let the issue keep hanging over Husted and other Republicans in tight races, including Ohio.
