S. Brett Guthrie
07/21/2026 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 07/21/2026 11:51
Guthrie, Energy and Commerce Advance Legislation to Protect Ratepayers from Increased Energy Costs Related to Data Center Development
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, the House Committee on Energy and Commerce advanced the Ratepayer Protection Act to the full House of Representatives unanimously. Congressman Brett Guthrie (KY-02), Chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, spoke in support of this legislation, which, if signed into law, would prevent ratepayers from footing the bill for upgrades to any energy generation, transmission, or distribution infrastructure for newly constructed data centers.
Excerpts from Chairman Guthrie's remarks on the Ratepayer Protection Act from today's Full Committee Markup as prepared for delivery.
"We have met with numerous stakeholders, including the data center industry and big tech, state regulators, utilities, and others. But it has become clear that across the entire industry there is one entity uniquely positioned to stand up for families and communities who are the ones paying electricity bills-and that is the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and our colleagues in Congress."
Background:
The Ratepayer Protection Act would amend the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act (PURPA) to require each state regulatory authority to consider establishing a large-load standard, requiring large-load data center customers to cover the full, incremental cost of any generation, transmission, or distribution upgrade necessary to serve the energy load for the customer.
Full legislative text for H.R. 9430 can be found HERE.
Excerpts from Chairman Guthrie's remarks on the Ratepayer Protection Act from today's Full Committee Markup as prepared for delivery.
"We have met with numerous stakeholders, including the data center industry and big tech, state regulators, utilities, and others. But it has become clear that across the entire industry there is one entity uniquely positioned to stand up for families and communities who are the ones paying electricity bills-and that is the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and our colleagues in Congress."
Background:
The Ratepayer Protection Act would amend the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act (PURPA) to require each state regulatory authority to consider establishing a large-load standard, requiring large-load data center customers to cover the full, incremental cost of any generation, transmission, or distribution upgrade necessary to serve the energy load for the customer.
Full legislative text for H.R. 9430 can be found HERE.
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