Senate Democrat blocks House-passed bill on data center electricity costs 

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Trending on The Hill - September 17, 2026

Trending on The Hill - September 17, 2026

Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) blocked Sen. Jon Husted’s (R-Ohio) Thursday effort to unanimously pass a bill that seeks to force states to consider making tech companies cover their data centers’ electricity price impacts. 

The New Mexico Democrat blocked the Ohio Republican’s effort to pass the Ratepayer Protection Act through a process called unanimous consent, arguing that the bill is toothless.

The bill, which passed the House Wednesday 417-3, forces states to hold a hearing on rules to make data centers pay for increased electricity costs from their operations, but does not make states adopt any such standards or force tech companies to cover these costs. 

“It’s not enough for us to tell states to consider making data centers pay for grid updates. Rather than voluntary pledges or suggestions to........

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