Senate Democrats block bill on data center energy costs

Senate Democrats blocked a bill Wednesday aimed at keeping the costs of new data centers off consumers’ electricity bills, rejecting a measure that passed the House overwhelmingly as concern grows over the facilities’ effect on energy prices.

The Senate voted 57-43 to advance the Ratepayer Protection Act, three votes short of the 60 needed to overcome a filibuster. Four Democrats joined Republicans in supporting it: Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire, Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, and Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock of Georgia. The House approved the measure 417-3 earlier this month.

The bill would set a federal standard and direct state utility regulators to consider ways to make companies behind energy-intensive data centers bear costs associated with the infrastructure they need, rather than passing those costs on to households and businesses. NBC News reported that it also addresses water costs to consumers.

Senate Democratic leaders said the measure would not require states or companies to adopt protections. “Not a single company has to comply with it,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York said. “They want it optional, which means zero. We want it mandatory.”

Schumer called the bill “a fraud” and urged Republicans to consider proposals from Democratic Sens. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland and Martin Heinrich of New Mexico that he said would impose stronger cost-related rules. Heinrich, speaking on the Senate floor, called the measure “nothing more than a messaging bill on the eve of an election.”

Republicans disputed that assessment. Ohio Republican Sen. Jon Husted, who has led the Senate push for the bill, said Tuesday that Democrats who want lower electricity prices could deliver a bipartisan measure to the president by allowing it to advance. Senate Majority Leader John Thune of South Dakota pointed to the near-unanimous House vote as evidence of the bill’s significance.

“I don’t know how you can say something that passed the House of Representatives 417-3 isn’t consequential,” Thune said. He rejected the argument that the vote was merely an effort to help Husted’s re-election campaign.

Husted faces former Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown in a competitive Ohio race. Brown has criticized Husted’s support for data center development while he was lieutenant governor, calling him “the face of data centers.” CBS News reported that a memo from the Senate Republicans’ campaign arm last month described the issue as the “anchor hanging around Husted’s neck.”

Public concern has made data centers a campaign issue ahead of the Nov. 3 midterm elections. An NBC News poll this month found that, by nearly 6 to 1, voters said they would be less likely to support a candidate who favored building a data center in their community. The poll also found voters trusted Democrats over Republicans by 12 points to handle the issue.

Republican Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina said Husted was right to raise awareness of data center costs. Asked whether the bill would accomplish much beyond that, Tillis replied, “No.” He said decisions about utility costs should be made at the state and local levels.