The US House of Representatives has overwhelmingly passed a bill aimed at ensuring artificial intelligence data centres pay for their substantial energy needs, as lawmakers addressed growing voter concerns before departing Washington ahead of the midterm elections.
The legislation, approved by a vote of 417 to 3 on Wednesday, would require state utility regulators to consider a standard under which utilities charge data centres for the full cost of new power generation and transmission upgrades required to serve them.
Supporters described the bill as a "modest first start" in protecting households and businesses from rising utility bills. However, state public utility commissions retain broad flexibility to adopt or reject the federal standard when setting rates.
Rep Frank Pallone, the ranking Democrat on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, said the bill marked the beginning rather than the end of congressional attention to the issue. "I promise that this bill is not the end of our focus on these issues. It's only the beginning," he said.
Some lawmakers have called for a complete moratorium on AI data centres until safeguards are introduced to ensure the technology is safe, effective, and does not drive up utility prices or damage the environment. More than 100 Democrats signed a letter this week urging House Speaker Mike Johnson to keep the chamber in session until Congress advances stronger artificial intelligence safeguards.
The debate exposed differing views on the value of data centres to local communities. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, a Republican from Louisiana, pointed to a data centre development in Richland Parish, his home state, which he said had generated bonuses of up to $50,000 for local teachers as a result of increased tax collections.
"Those are the stories you're seeing in communities that have embraced it," Scalise said.
Pallone countered that Americans hold genuine concerns about the impact of data centres, arguing that President Donald Trump and Republican congressional leaders had dismissed those worries. He referenced a social media post in which Trump suggested that communities opposing data centres must want to remain "backwards and poor".
"The president in my opinion is out of touch on this issue and the American people are demanding action," Pallone said.
Public concern over the issue appears widespread. According to a new poll from the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research and the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago, nearly two-thirds of Americans are extremely or very concerned about the impact of data centres on energy prices, while 57 per cent expressed similar concern about their effect on water supplies.
Rep Gabe Evans, a Republican from Colorado and the bill's sponsor, framed the issue in terms of national competitiveness, saying the United States must either expand its power systems to meet growing demand or risk becoming dependent on countries such as China for digital infrastructure.
"We cannot accelerate this growth on the back of Americans working hard to pay their electric bills at the end of the month," Evans said.
The bill's passage comes amid intensifying debate in Washington over how to balance the rapid expansion of artificial intelligence infrastructure with protections for consumers and the environment. While the legislation sets out a federal standard for utility regulators to consider, its ultimate impact will depend on whether individual states choose to adopt it.
