The title of the Ratepayer Protection Act (H.R.9340) suggests it protects ratepayers from data center expansion; however, a more fitting title would be the Ratepayer Deception Act, since this legislation only speaks to a narrow category of utility costs. It leaves many costs from data centers unaddressed, including threats to water supplies, increased pollution, strain on local infrastructure, and land use.

Data centers are raising costs and polluting our air and water, while exploiting our natural resources. The Ratepayer Deception Act does nothing to address these core concerns that communities around the country are putting front and center. And rather than protecting ratepayers, this bill protects the shareholders and CEO of utilities.

Data centers are moving forward faster than policy makers and regulators can keep up, leaving communities to bear the burdens of rampant data center development. Rather than thinking up Orwellian titles for legislation, we need Congress to get real on data centers. 

Lawmakers must pass a moratorium on data centers to give time to fully understand the impact of data centers and put comprehensive protections in place for the public, natural resources, and ratepayers.

What the Ratepayer Deception Act Actually Does: 

The legislation requires utility regulators to consider, not adopt, new rules for how utilities would allocate costs and financial risks for data center electricity infrastructure. 

These rules would make data centers responsible for the incremental costs of energy generation, transmission, and distribution upgrades necessary to serve their demand. They’d also require financial assurances or upfront payments before utilities make infrastructure investments.

The legislation would address a significant concern that utilities face relating to data center expansion. It would help ensure that utilities aren’t left holding the bag for data center speculation and energy demands. 

But this doesn’t automatically equate to lower costs for ratepayers. In fact, reducing financial risks for data center energy infrastructure would likely make utilities more willing to accommodate more data center development. 

In other words, this bill serves to ease the concerns of utility CEOs and shareholders and give license to Big Tech to expand its data centers even more.

Furthermore, since the legislation does nothing to address other impacts of data center development, this will expose the public to additional costs from broader data center expansion, such as water infrastructure and pollution.

What the Ratepayer Deception Act Does NOT Do: 

This legislation does not guarantee that any states will adopt any of these requirements. Even if states do act, there is no guarantee that they will lower costs for the public. 

The legislation does not require state regulators to protect consumers from broader electricity costs associated with massive increases in energy demand. 

Data centers’ growing demand for natural gas could contribute to higher fuel and energy prices for the public. Moreover, while data centers would have to pay for the incremental cost of a new powerplant, there is no requirement that data centers will have to pay for wholesale market costs stemming from their energy demand. This would foist these higher costs onto the public.

Crucially, this bill does not do anything to address the litany of concerns communities across the country are raising about data center development, including exploitation of water supplies, pollution from cooling infrastructure and energy, public subsidies for the tech industry, or infrastructure costs for roads and water resources.

Congress Must Oppose the Ratepayer Deception Act

This legislation gives the false sense that Congress is listening to the public and addressing core public concerns with data center expansion. It’s a distraction that benefits utility CEOs and shareholders and Big Tech more than everyday people facing the costs of these data centers.

Instead of embracing this piecemeal approach to data center expansion, Congress should put forward a moratorium on data centers, giving time to study the impacts of data centers and make sure there are real protections in place for communities facing a litany of costs and harms from unfettered data center expansion.