The Ratepayer Protection Act, introduced by Senator Jon Husted, had cleared the House of Representatives two weeks earlier and needed 60 votes in the Senate to advance. It fell three short, ending 57 to 43, according to a Reuters report cited by Tom's Hardware. The bill grew out of President Trump's "Ratepayer Protection Pledge" and would have set a federal standard directing state regulators and Public Utility Commissions to consider whether heavy electricity users, such as data centres, should cover the incremental infrastructure costs of serving them.

Supporters, including Husted, argued the US must build energy infrastructure to lead in AI without passing the costs to working families and small businesses. Opponents, mostly Democrats, called the bill "toothless" because it was non-binding: it did not mandate that states adopt the standard, only that regulators weigh it during rate-setting. Only four Democrats voted for the bill.

With the bill dead, Congress has imposed no new federal protection against data centre-related grid costs. Some lawmakers have suggested revisiting the issue after November's mid-term elections, possibly with revisions that would require regulators to ensure data centre operators cover additional costs caused by their operations. Local communities, meanwhile, continue to push back against data centre construction over electricity bill rises.

The stakes are visible in the market already: an Oregon power company has raised data centre bills by 30% while trimming residential electricity costs by 1.3%, one example of utilities separating the costs of large facilities from household rates. Some hyperscalers are also moving data centres off-grid or pledging to supply electricity to the grid or offset increases in residents' bills.