At an Axios Live event, bipartisan lawmakers and the Trump administration's National Energy Dominance Council agreed that data center operators — not residential ratepayers — should bear the cost of their electricity demand. “The people who need the energy need to pay for the energy,” said Rep. Julie Fedorchak (R-N.D.). Rep. Jennifer McClellan (D-Va.) said data centers must pay “their fair share.” Peter Lake, senior director of power for the Energy Dominance Council, said cloud companies must “build, bring or buy” their own electricity generation.
The same day, Reps. Kweisi Mfume (D-MD) and Paul Tonko (D-NY) introduced the Power for the People Act, with a Senate companion from Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD). The bill would direct FERC to ensure data centers pay for local transmission upgrades, create a data center load queue prioritizing facilities that bring their own generation and battery storage, and improve load forecasting. Fifteen House members and seven senators have signed on.
A separate bipartisan Senate bill from Sens. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) would require data centers to use generation sources separate from the grid.