The United States House of Representatives on Wednesday passed a bipartisan law to protect consumers from rising energy costs due to the construction of new data centers in local communities. The vote was nearly unanimous, with a tally of 417 to 3, with the only opposition coming from progressive representatives like Summer Lee (Democrat from Pennsylvania), Delia Ramirez (Democrat from Illinois), and Rashida Tlaib (Democrat from Michigan).
Details of the Consumer Protection Law
This law, known as the "Consumer Ratepayer Protection Act," is the first legislation regarding artificial intelligence to be voted on this week. The law is designed to reduce energy costs for consumers and places the responsibility for funding energy upgrades on technology companies and data centers. Representatives Gabby Evans (Republican from Colorado) and Kathy Castor (Democrat from Florida) proposed this law, aiming to create federal standards for state public utility regulators.
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Under this law, data centers must cover the costs of energy production, transmission lines, and other necessary infrastructure to supply energy. Evans stated, "Hardworking families should not bear the costs of energy for data centers. America needs the necessary infrastructure to lead in artificial intelligence, but this growth should not come at the expense of hardworking families, farmers, seniors, and small businesses."
Responses to the Law's Passage
However, this law does not address recent concerns from artificial intelligence researchers about the risks of this technology, and it remains unclear how the U.S. Senate will respond to this law. Representative Tlaib has expressed her opposition to the inadequacy of this law and has called for a suspension of data center construction. She wrote on social media platform X: "The strongest congressional action right now is to pass a national moratorium on data centers and ban them on federal lands."
Other Democratic representatives also voted in favor of this law but described it as insufficient. Representative Veronica Escobar (Democrat from Texas) said during the voting session, "People in our communities are extremely angry that Congress is not taking adequate action. I vote yes, but this is really the bare minimum."
The Consumer Protection Law was passed in the last week of the House of Representatives' sessions before the midterm elections on November 3. With oil prices remaining above $100 per barrel and living costs and inflation being key issues ahead of election day, this action is seen as a preliminary step in response to public concerns about data centers and their impacts on local communities.
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