Ratepayer Protection Act
Sponsored By: Senator Husted, Jon [R-OH]
Introduced
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.
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- 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.
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Bill Overview
Analyzed Economic Effects
2 provisions identified: 0 benefits, 1 costs, 1 mixed.
Large data centers pay upgrade costs
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 and that have 100 megawatts or more peak demand at one site or campus. Utilities would have to get financial assurances or contributions from those customers before building upgrades. Utilities could still recover upgrade costs if the customer ends a contract or stops buying power.
State review deadlines for utilities
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, held a proceeding to consider it, or its legislature voted on implementation before enactment. The bill would also treat references to the "date of enactment" for this specific standard as the date that paragraph (22) is enacted, which is a technical timing fix.
Sponsors & CoSponsors
Sponsor
Husted, Jon [R-OH]
OH • R
Cosponsors
There are no cosponsors for this bill.
Roll Call Votes
No roll call votes available for this bill.
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