House Bill to Offset Data Centers' Impact on Energy Costs Introduced
Lawmakers say utilities are increasingly passing infrastructure costs to households.
WASHINGTON, April 13, 2026 – A new House bill directs regulators to ensure data center developers cover the cost of the power infrastructure they require.
Rep. Paul Tonko, D-N.Y., introduced the Power for the People Act in the House on Thursday, joining a parallel Senate effort led in January by Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md.
The pair of bills target the growing strain that energy-intensive data centers are placing on the electric grid and on ratepayers as utilities expand infrastructure to meet demand.
Artificial intelligence has fueled a surge in data center construction. More than 4,000 facilities now operate in the U.S., accounting for 55 percent of new electricity demand. Projections show they could reach 15 percent of national electricity consumption by 2030.
Utilities have expanded transmission infrastructure to meet demand, often passing those costs on to consumers. Customers paid $4.3 billion in 2024 across 13 states for new transmission tied in part to data center growth, a study from the Union of Concerned Scientists found.
The bill would shift those costs to developers. It would require the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to ensure data centers pay for transmission upgrades tied to their demand and direct grid operators to create a data center load queue to manage new connections.
It would also prioritize projects that bring on-site power generation and battery storage, improve demand forecasting, and encourage regulators to consider separate rate structures for data centers.
If enacted, the measure could shift billions in grid costs from households to large technology companies, push developers to invest in dedicated power sources, and reduce pressure on the grid.
“Families are already paying higher prices for everything from groceries to healthcare, to gas, to utilities — they shouldn’t be forced to also shoulder the costs for companies building data centers,” Tonko said in a release Thursday.
Data center load growth has tripled over the past decade and is expected to double or triple again by 2028, according to the United States Department of Energy.
“It is clear that new data center energy demand is having a significant and growing impact on Americans’ utility bills,” Van Hollen said in a January release.
The Senate version, introduced Jan. 15 by Van Hollen, was referred to the Energy and Natural Resources Committee and has seen no further action.
