US House passes Ratepayer Protection Act to shield consumers from data center costs

The US House of Representatives passed the Ratepayer Protection Act (H.R. 9340) with a near-unanimous vote of 417 to 3. The bill allows state regulators to require data centers consuming over 100 megawatts of electricity to fund their own infrastructure costs, preventing these expenses from being passed on to household consumers. While the bill targets large-scale AI data centers, it remains optional for states to implement, drawing criticism from some lawmakers who argue the measures are too lenient against major technology firms.