# 119-s-3682: Power for the People Act of 2026

119-s-3682, Power for the People Act of 2026, is a 119th Congress bill sponsored by Sen. Van Hollen, Chris [D-MD] (D-MD); status introduced; PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-09-10).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-3682
- As of: 2026-09-10
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: 119-s-3682
- Congress: 119
- Title: Power for the People Act of 2026
- Status: introduced
- Introduced: 2026-01-15
- Sponsor: Sen. Van Hollen, Chris [D-MD] (D-MD)
- Cosponsors: 8
- Policy area: Energy
- Touches household money: yes
- Last recorded action: 2026-09-10

## Summary

**Shift the costs and grid impacts of big data centers onto the data centers themselves, not ordinary ratepayers.** The bill creates special interconnection 'data center load queues', a set of qualifying clean‑energy and labor rules, and a push for state data‑center rate classes so those facilities cover the grid costs they create. - Families and non‑data‑center customers: Utilities would allocate local transmission upgrade costs to data centers so other customers are less likely to subsidize those upgrades. Congress notes data centers could consume about 6.7%–12% of electricity by 2028. - Data center owners and operators: Large non‑Federal data centers (defined as over 50 megawatts) must advance through new load queues and can earn queue priority only by meeting qualifying strategies like procuring new dedicated supply, adding low‑ or no‑carbon backup, or using batteries and load flexibility. The bill also allows higher interconnection study costs, longer contracts, and contributions in aid of construction. - States and utilities: State regulators must consider creating a data‑center rate class under the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act within set timelines. The bill funds grants and technical help to design rate rules, demand charges, deposits, and clean transition tariffs. - Construction and operations workers: Projects meeting the bill's energy or construction requirements must pay prevailing wages, use registered apprentices, and follow labor peace rules, with enforcement by the Secretary of Labor.

## Cosponsors (8)

- Sen. Durbin, Richard J. [D-IL] (D-IL), 2026-01-15T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Blumenthal, Richard [D-CT] (D-CT), 2026-01-15T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Booker, Cory A. [D-NJ] (D-NJ), 2026-01-15T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Duckworth, Tammy [D-IL] (D-IL), 2026-01-15T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Smith, Tina [D-MN] (D-MN), 2026-01-15T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Welch, Peter [D-VT] (D-VT), 2026-01-15T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Alsobrooks, Angela D. [D-MD] (D-MD), 2026-01-15T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Warner, Mark R. [D-VA] (D-VA), 2026-06-01T00:00:00.000Z

## Provisions PRIA read

- Help grids forecast data center loads: benefit, medium. Within 180 days, the Secretary of Energy would set up technical assistance for ISOs, RTOs, and transmitting utilities to improve long‑term load forecasts, with special focus on data center interconnection requests. The bill would also require the Commission to make new transparency and disclosure r…
- Data center queue and labor rules: mixed, high. If enacted, the Commission would have 180 days to make a rule forcing grid operators to use a special data‑center load queue. Covered entities would have one year after the rule to comply. The queue would give priority to data centers that bring new, dedicated supply, use low‑ or no‑carbon backup (…
- Which sites count as data centers: mixed, medium. This bill would define which facilities are treated as data centers. A data center would be a facility (or group of facilities with the same owner in one utility area) that mainly hosts electronic information systems, uses more than 50 megawatts of demand, meets Commission anti‑circumvention rules,…
- Data centers pay local grid upgrades: mixed, medium. The bill would require the Commission, within 120 days, to tell utilities to file tariffs that charge each interconnecting data center for local transmission upgrades that would not be needed but for that data center. Data centers would pay those upgrade costs directly. At the same time, data cente…
- State rules to make data centers pay: mixed, medium. The bill would amend federal law to direct States with at least one data center (or a proposed one) to consider creating a data‑center rate class so data centers cover generation, transmission, and distribution costs they cause. States would consider features like minimum demand charges, longer int…

## Related bills

- 119-s-5066: Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2026
- 119-s-3990: PrEP Access and Coverage Act of 2026
- 119-s-51: Washington, D.C. Admission Act
- 119-s-5108: Right to IVF Act of 2026
- 119-s-1503: Equality Act
- 119-sres-854: A resolution designating September 2026 as "National Voting Rights Month".

## Sources
- [119-s-3682 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/3682)

## Related
- [119-s-5066: Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2026](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-5066)
- [119-s-3990: PrEP Access and Coverage Act of 2026](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-3990)
- [119-s-51: Washington, D.C. Admission Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-51)
- [119-s-5108: Right to IVF Act of 2026](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-5108)
- [119-s-1503: Equality Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-1503)
- [119-sres-854: A resolution designating September 2026 as "National Voting Rights Month".](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-sres-854)
- [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-3682 (as of 2026-09-10).