# 119-s-5028: Ratepayer Protection Act

119-s-5028, Ratepayer Protection Act, is a 119th Congress bill sponsored by Sen. Husted, Jon [R-OH] (R-OH); status introduced; PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-10-01).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-5028
- As of: 2026-10-01
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: 119-s-5028
- Congress: 119
- Title: Ratepayer Protection Act
- Status: introduced
- Introduced: 2026-07-16
- Sponsor: Sen. Husted, Jon [R-OH] (R-OH)
- Cosponsors: 16
- Policy area: Energy
- Touches household money: yes
- Last recorded action: 2026-10-01

## Summary

**Requires large IT-heavy electricity users to pay the full incremental cost of grid upgrades.** This bill would add a new federal standard to PURPA targeting data centers and similar load centers and set firm timelines for state regulators to act. - Large-load customers (data centers and similar facilities) would have to cover the full, incremental cost of any generation, transmission, or distribution upgrade needed to serve their load, including if they end a contract. The threshold is facilities totaling 100 megawatts or more at a single site or campus and customers must provide financial assurances before upgrades. - Electric utilities and nonregulated utilities would be required to design rates or contracts that recover those upgrade costs from the large-load customer and to secure payment assurances before proceeding with work. - State regulatory authorities and nonregulated utilities would have to begin consideration of the new standard within 1 year and complete determinations within 2 years of enactment. - States are exempt from those timing rules if they already adopted the same or a comparable standard, held a proceeding on it, or the state legislature voted on implementation.

## Cosponsors (16)

- Sen. Fischer, Deb [R-NE] (R-NE), 2026-09-28T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Hagerty, Bill [R-TN] (R-TN), 2026-09-24T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Young, Todd [R-IN] (R-IN), 2026-09-24T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Tuberville, Tommy [R-AL] (R-AL), 2026-09-14T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Moody, Ashley [R-FL] (R-FL), 2026-09-17T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Ricketts, Pete [R-NE] (R-NE), 2026-09-17T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Marshall, Roger [R-KS] (R-KS), 2026-09-17T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Kennedy, John [R-LA] (R-LA), 2026-09-17T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Collins, Susan M. [R-ME] (R-ME), 2026-09-22T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Graham, Darline [R-SC] (R-SC), 2026-09-22T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Cotton, Tom [R-AR] (R-AR), 2026-09-22T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Hoeven, John [R-ND] (R-ND), 2026-09-22T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Britt, Katie Boyd [R-AL] (R-AL), 2026-09-23T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Cornyn, John [R-TX] (R-TX), 2026-09-23T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Ernst, Joni [R-IA] (R-IA), 2026-09-23T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Armstrong, Alan [R-OK] (R-OK), 2026-09-23T00:00:00.000Z

## Provisions PRIA read

- Large data centers pay upgrade costs: cost, medium. If enacted, utilities would be allowed to charge very large data centers the full, incremental cost of any generation, transmission, or distribution upgrade needed to serve them. A "large-load customer" would mean non-residential data centers that first seek or enter contracts on or after enactment…
- State review deadlines for utilities: mixed, medium. If enacted, each State utility regulator and each nonregulated electric utility would have to start reviewing the new large-load standard within 1 year and finish and decide within 2 years of enactment. Those timing rules would not apply if a State already implemented the same or a similar standard…

## Related bills

- 119-s-1071: National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2026
- 119-sres-913: A resolution relating to the death of the Honorable Nancy Kassebaum, former United States Senator for the State of Kansas.
- 119-sres-897: A resolution honoring the life, service, and legacy of the Honorable Jon Llewellyn Kyl, former Senator for the State of Arizona.
- 119-sres-801: A resolution honoring the life and legacy of the Honorable Lindsey Olin Graham, a Senator from the State of South Carolina.
- 119-sres-755: A resolution honoring the life of the Honorable Donald W. Riegle, Jr., former Senator for the State of Michigan.
- 119-sres-739: A resolution honoring the life and legacy of John Seymour, the late Senator for the State of California.

## Sources
- [119-s-5028 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/5028)

## Related
- [119-s-1071: National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2026](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-1071)
- [119-sres-913: A resolution relating to the death of the Honorable Nancy Kassebaum, former Uni…](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-sres-913)
- [119-sres-897: A resolution honoring the life, service, and legacy of the Honorable Jon Llewel…](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-sres-897)
- [119-sres-801: A resolution honoring the life and legacy of the Honorable Lindsey Olin Graham,…](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-sres-801)
- [119-sres-755: A resolution honoring the life of the Honorable Donald W. Riegle, Jr., former S…](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-sres-755)
- [119-sres-739: A resolution honoring the life and legacy of John Seymour, the late Senator for…](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-sres-739)
- [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-5028 (as of 2026-10-01).