One vulnerable Republican senator’s attempt to fast-track a data center bill that easily passed the House failed on the Senate floor this afternoon due to objection from the top Democrat on the Energy and Natural Resources Committee.
Sen. Jon Husted (R-Ohio) asked for quick passage of the Ratepayer Protection Act — a measure aimed at curtailing high energy bills associated with data centers. Sending the bill to President Donald Trump’s desk might have given Husted and fellow Republicans an answer to the nationwide backlash to data centers.
His attempt to pass the bill by unanimous consent Thursday fell short after Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) objected.
Heinrich argued that the Ratepayer Protection Act did not go far enough to force data centers to foot the bill for their energy costs. He offered his own bill — the GRID Savings Act — as an alternative; Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio) objected to it.
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