Senate Democrats Block Husted’s ‘Toothless’ Data Center Energy Costs Bill

Despite the measure passing with overwhelming bipartisan support in the House, it was beyond clear that Senate Democrats would vote against the Ratepayer Protection Act. On Wednesday, all but four of them—Sens. Jon Ossoff (D-GA), Raphael Warnock (D-GA), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), and Maggie Hassan (D-NH)—did just that.

The bill, sponsored by Sen. Jon Husted (R-OH), directs state utility regulators to consider a standard whereby data centers pay for the full incremental costs of infrastructure needed to serve them. It did not secure the 60 votes required to advance to the Senate floor, failing in a 57-32 vote.

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Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer was vocal about his plans to oppose the legislation in the days leading up to the vote, with Senate Democratic leadership broadly framing it as a bailout for Husted. The Republican incumbent from Ohio faces a tough re-election campaign. Husted’s opponent, former Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown, has plenty of ammunition, and he hasn’t been afraid to use it. Brown notably capitalized on Husted’s past comments supporting data centers, which the Republican made during his tenure as Ohio’s lieutenant governor. At the time, Husted characterized himself as the “point man” for data center development in Ohio.

Husted has been trailing Brown in the polls, with the most recent one putting Husted three points behind the Democrat trying to unseat him. Although Brown has raised more money than Husted, outside Republican PACs have an enormous spending advantage in the race. Recent figures indicate those PACs have spent $68 million more than their Democratic counterparts on boosting their respective candidates.

“The Ratepayer Protection Act was such a no brainer that some of the most conservative and the most liberal representatives all agreed it was good policy,” Husted wrote in a post on X. “Senate Democrats are the only ones who refused to take yes for an answer.”

Given what the bill actually does, it appears that Senate Democrats—save for the fantastic four—made a logical calculation in killing the Ratepayer Protection Act. As noted above, it only requires states to consider ratepayer protection, without mandating any actual safeguards around paying for data center energy use.

“At a time when Americans are calling out for real guardrails on AI, Senate Republicans are trying to secure an ineffectual participation trophy before they skip town,” Schumer said on the Senate floor. “Instead of trying to score cheap political points with hollow proposals, Senate Republicans need to work with us to take meaningful action that will actually contain these existential risks.”

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The congressional bill is behind even some of America’s most conservative states. In Alabama, which has long relied on a formula-based ratemaking process that does not provide for formal rate case proceedings, legislators have directed their public utility commission to adopt a large-load tariff for data center customers. In April, Gov. Kay Ivey (R) enacted legislation mandating the Alabama Public Service Commission to ensure that any contracts between Alabama’s investor-owned utilities and their data center customers are consistent with the public interest. The ensuing process is well under way; the law took effect today.

In Husted’s home state, the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) ordered the investor-owned utility AEP Ohio to implement a tariff targeting high-demand customers like data centers in July 2025. Meanwhile, the Ohio legislature passed legislation to codify PUCO’s decision in August 2025, requiring the state’s other investor-owned utilities to adopt cost allocation frameworks for data centers. Dozens of other states have proposed or approved data center–specific large-load tariffs.

For their part, Democrats in both chambers of Congress have proposed a range of legislation to shield ratepayers from bearing the brunt of the data center build-out, and rein in excess utility profits. Some of that legislation has seen bipartisan support, such as the pair of bills introduced by Sens. John Curtis (R-UT) and Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE).

The first bill is designed to provide the public with adequate information about data center projects being built in their backyards, which as the Prospect reported today, has been a major point of contention in communities pushing back against these developments. It seeks to establish a Department of Energy program providing communities with technical expertise on the costs and benefits of proposed projects. The second bill would impose federal reporting requirements, namely an environmental impact assessment, for hyperscale data centers.

If Husted and other Republicans are serious about protecting ratepayers, they certainly have more than one legislative option to choose from. But siding with Democrats? The GOP may not want to risk inviting the optics that come with that, especially considering how such a transgression would likely anger Donald Trump.

Yet the president has hit a record-low approval rating, and some vulnerable Republicans have already been distancing themselves from his administration. Is backing legislation that actually protects ratepayers a risk Republicans are willing to take?

The post appeared first on The American Prospect.