More Than 20 Groups Lobby on Data Center Grid Rules as Congress Weighs 2 Ratepayer Bills
Updated
Updated · POLITICO · Jul 28
More Than 20 Groups Lobby on Data Center Grid Rules as Congress Weighs 2 Ratepayer Bills
1 articles · Updated · POLITICO · Jul 28
Summary
More than 20 companies and groups disclosed lobbying on federal data-center grid policy, as Washington moves from broad AI ambitions to rules on who pays for power and transmission upgrades.
Three dozen organizations — including Meta, Google and Edison Electric Institute — also lobbied on the Ratepayer Protection Act, while lawmakers consider that measure and the GRID Act.
The push follows Energy Secretary Chris Wright’s instruction last year for FERC to examine how data centers interact with the grid, alongside Trump’s Ratepayer Protection Pledge that companies should cover their own upgrade costs.
Tech firms, developers, utilities and labor unions are all pressing their case because the data-center buildout is spreading to new regions and raising concerns over whether electricity rates for other customers could rise.
As massive data centers threaten to overwhelm power grids, could mandatory infrastructure tariffs become the ultimate bottleneck for the global AI race?
Will your monthly electricity bill secretly fund the AI revolution, or can new regulations force tech giants to pay their own way?