Senator Markey, Colleagues Call for State Energy Regulators to Protect Ratepayers from Data Center-Related Cost Hikes

Letter Text (PDF)

Boston (March 6, 2026) - Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), member of the Environment and Public Works Committee, along with Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), and Cory Booker (D-N.J.), today wrote to Ann Rendahl, President of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC), urging the association's members to protect residential and small business ratepayers from rate hikes stemming from the rapid artificial intelligence-fueled data center buildout. Instead of President Trump and Big Tech's vague and insufficient voluntary "ratepayer protection pledge" announced this week, the letter asks NARUC to work with Congress and outlines actual steps that state public utility commissions (PUCs), represented by NARUC, can take to protect households from unjust costs.

State PUCs have direct authority over household and small business energy costs in their state by approving or rejecting rate filings submitted by investor-owned utilities. Given the unprecedented growth in energy demand across the nation from new data centers, state PUCs should exercise their authority to ensure fair prices and reliable service. They can do this by rejecting rate filings that force ratepayers to subsidize data centers, as well as proactively adopting policies that protect ratepayers, and improving coordination with utilities, regional grid operators, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), and Congress-to ensure costs at every level are just, reasonable, and transparent.

In the letter, the lawmakers wrote, "The rapid growth of artificial intelligence (AI) has fueled a nationwide boom in data center construction and a surge in electricity demand. Utilities are now proposing significant grid upgrades-often at ratepayer expense-to meet this speculative, industry-driven load growth. These costs are already being shifted onto households and small businesses, prompting bipartisan concern about rising bills and unfair cross-subsidization. State utility regulators have important tools to address this problem."

The lawmakers continued, "PUCs have a statutory duty to ensure just and reasonable rates, and NARUC plays an essential role in helping regulators meet that responsibility. As Members of Congress who are hearing from constituents concerned about extremely high electricity costs, we seek more information on how you are working to protect residential and small business ratepayers from this accelerating affordability challenge."

The Senators requested responses to the following questions by March 15, 2026:

• Has NARUC provided any guidance or recommendations to member PUCs on how to protect residential and small business ratepayers from the cost impacts of data centers?
• Does NARUC have more information on innovative steps taken by PUCs nationwide that protect residential and small business ratepayers from large load cross-subsidization?
• Does NARUC have further plans, beyond the recent Winter Summit, to convene educational opportunities that address potential ratemaking and tariff options that mitigate the aforementioned concerns regarding the rapid addition of large loads to the grid?
• How can federal regulators and regional transmission organizations better coordinate with state regulators to improve load forecasting and prevent inequitable cost shifting onto ratepayers?
• How does NARUC plan to collaborate with Members of Congress to address this growing affordability challenge?

Senator Markey continues to conduct oversight over the energy, environmental, and health-related impacts of data centers as companies invest billions in their development throughout the country.

In November 2025, Senator Markey wrote to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) urging the agency to ensure that increased and projected energy demand from data centers does not result in unjust or unreasonable rate hikes for American households. In September, Senator Markey wrote to Environmental Protection Agency Administrator (EPA) Lee Zeldin in opposition to Zeldin's decision to allow major polluting facilities-including data centers and associated power generation infrastructure-to start pre-construction activities without securing the air quality permits required under federal law. In July, Senator Markey hosted a roundtable discussion titled, The Data Center Next Door: Hidden Costs and Harms of Artificial Intelligence and Cryptomining to highlight the adverse environmental, health, climate, and energy cost impacts of data center proliferation in communities across the United States, and to condemn the deregulatory actions set forth in President Trump's AI Action Plan.

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