# 119-hr-10809: Make Data Centers Pay Act

119-hr-10809, Make Data Centers Pay Act, is a 119th Congress bill sponsored by Rep. Vindman, Eugene Simon [D-VA-7] (D-VA); status introduced; PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-10-21).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-10809
- As of: 2026-10-21
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: 119-hr-10809
- Congress: 119
- Title: Make Data Centers Pay Act
- Status: introduced
- Introduced: 2026-10-13
- Sponsor: Rep. Vindman, Eugene Simon [D-VA-7] (D-VA)
- Cosponsors: 0
- Policy area: Energy
- Touches household money: yes
- Last recorded action: 2026-10-21

## Summary

This bill would **prevent cross-subsidization of data-center electricity costs** by requiring new data-center and high-density computing loads to pay the incremental costs of any new generation, transmission, or distribution needed to serve them and by requiring financial assurances up front. - Families and other ratepayers: Protects other customers from bearing the incremental costs tied to new data-center loads so those costs are not spread across general bills. - Utilities and grid operators: Must accept credits for funds provided by covered loads and may recover the full incremental cost of serving those loads, including ongoing recovery if a contract ends. - Data center operators and developers: Would have to post financial assurances or contributions before construction or upgrades and cover incremental upgrade costs for covered loads at or above the 20 megawatt threshold. - State regulators and FERC: Keeps existing jurisdictional roles and limits the rules to new interconnections after enactment while preserving pre-enactment arrangements and agreements.

## Provisions PRIA read

- Upfront payments for power upgrades: cost, low. If enacted, the bill would let utilities require a covered load to provide financial assurances or contributions before building or upgrading generation, transmission, or distribution needed to serve that load. Any amounts the covered load already paid to a public utility or transmission organizati…
- Data centers must pay added power costs: mixed, medium. If enacted, the bill would require covered data-center loads that interconnect on or after enactment to pay the full incremental cost to serve them. The utility’s estimate of that incremental cost would be reviewed by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission or the State, as appropriate. Other cust…
- Which data centers count: mixed, low. If enacted, the bill would define a "covered load" as electricity for one or more data centers or high-density computing facilities that total 20 megawatts or more at a site or under common ownership. Phased developments would count if they are reasonably expected to reach 20 megawatts at full buil…

## Related bills

- 119-hr-3151: SHIPS for America Act of 2025
- 119-hr-6900: American Affordability Act of 2025
- 119-hr-4669: FEMA Act of 2025
- 119-hr-7977: Energy Bills Relief Act
- 119-hr-7481: Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2026
- 119-hr-7973: Momnibus Act

## Sources
- [119-hr-10809 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/10809)

## Related
- [119-hr-3151: SHIPS for America Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-3151)
- [119-hr-6900: American Affordability Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-6900)
- [119-hr-4669: FEMA Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-4669)
- [119-hr-7977: Energy Bills Relief Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-7977)
- [119-hr-7481: Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2026](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-7481)
- [119-hr-7973: Momnibus Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-7973)
- [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-10809 (as of 2026-10-21).