A Senate Democrat on Sept. 17 blocked Republicans from moving to immediate passage on the Ratepayer Protection Act, a House-passed law that would encourage states to require data centers to pay for their own energy costs.
The bill previously passed the House in a 417–3 vote on Wednesday evening.
Though progressives in the lower chamber had expressed concerns about the bill’s lack of enforcement mechanisms, the faction ultimately backed the bill. It seemed on track for a painless passage of the Senate under unanimous consent, a procedure that allows uncontroversial bills to pass quickly.
The bill was introduced on the Senate floor Thursday by Sen. Jon Husted (R-Ohio), the bill’s sponsor in the upper chamber, who noted that as many as 1,000 new data center constructions are expected in the United States in the next five years. …