Walberg-Backed Ratepayer Protection Act Passes House

Today, Congressman Tim Walberg (MI-05) voted to pass the Ratepayer Protection Act, legislation that would require state public utility commissions to consider a strategy to make data centers pay their own way instead of passing costs on to American consumers.

The Ratepayer Protection Act codifies the White House’s Ratepayer Protection Pledge from earlier this year, under which more than 300 other organizations ranging from utilities to data center developers committed to protecting communities from increased costs resulting from data center construction. The legislation would have state utility commissions consider large-load standards for data centers drawing more than 100 MW of power, to ensure they pay for the full incremental costs to serve their loads.

"Michigan families, farmers, and small businesses should not be forced to foot the bill for growing energy demands from data centers," said Rep. Walberg. "I was proud to support the bipartisan Ratepayer Protection Act to ensure that the companies building data centers are the ones paying for the electricity needed to power them, instead of hardworking American families. I urge the Senate to pass this common-sense legislation to protect consumers from rate increases and address the concerns shared by local communities."