Congressman Gabe Evans’ Bipartisan Ratepayer Protection Act Passes Energy and Commerce Committee, Heads to House Floor

WASHINGTON - Today, Congressman Gabe Evans' bipartisan Ratepayer Protection Act unanimously passed through the House Energy and Commerce, marking a major step toward protecting American families and small businesses from bearing the costs of powering new data center development. The legislation now advances to the House floor for a vote.

The bipartisan Ratepayer Protection Act establishes commonsense standards for states and their Public Utility Commissions (PUCs) to consider when connecting large-load customers-such as data centers and hyperscalers-to the electric grid. The bill helps ensure these companies, rather than everyday ratepayers, are responsible for the costs of new power generation, transmission lines, and other infrastructure needed to meet the immense energy demand they require.

As energy demand continues to grow alongside America's leadership in Artificial Intelligence (AI), the Ratepayer Protection Act provides states with a framework to encourage economic growth while protecting households and small businesses from higher monthly utility rates.

"America must build the energy infrastructure necessary to win the global AI race and outcompete adversaries like Communist China-but hardworking families should never be forced to subsidize that growth through higher electric bills. This bipartisan commonsense legislation ensures the companies creating new demand for electricity pay for the infrastructure they require-not Colorado families, farmers, seniors, and small businesses. I'm proud to see the swift advancement of the Ratepayer Protection Act through committee, and I look forward to its final passage in the House." -- Congressman Gabe Evans

Background

If enacted, the legislation would establish federal standards for state regulators to use when reviewing proposals for new large-load customers with an electricity demand of 100 megawatts or more. The bill recommends:

• Recovering the full incremental cost of grid upgrades from the large-load customer over time through special rate structures or other agreements, ensuring utilities and existing ratepayers are not left paying for infrastructure if a customer later scales back operations or leaves the system.
• Requiring financial assurances that large-load customers will pay for the generation, transmission, and other infrastructure necessary to serve their demand, preventing those costs from being shifted onto families and local businesses through higher electricity rates.

The Ratepayer Protection Act builds on the principles of the Ratepayer Protection Pledge, under which major technology companies committed to covering the energy and infrastructure costs associated with new data center development.

The bill now heads to the House floor for consideration.

Read the full text here.