US House passes bill to make data centers pay for their own power costs

The US House of Representatives passed the Ratepayer Protection Act on Wednesday, a bipartisan bill requiring data centers to cover the costs of new power infrastructure rather than passing them to consumers. The vote was 417-3. The bill responds to growing backlash over data centers' electricity demands, which have driven up costs by $9.3 billion in a year on one grid. Nearly 70% of Americans oppose such facilities in their neighborhoods. The bill now heads to the Senate, where its future is uncertain. Some Democrats criticized it as insufficient, while President Trump supports rapid data center construction.