Sponsors (25)
Official title: To promote the creation of data center load queues and data center-specific rate classes to mitigate the impact of data centers on other electricity consumers, and for other purposes.
Introduced April 9, 2026 by Paul Tonko · Last progress April 9, 2026
The bill shifts much of the cost and regulatory responsibility for data‑center interconnections onto data centers to protect other ratepayers and grid reliability and to push cleaner supply, but it raises project costs, administrative burdens, potential legal and confidentiality concerns, and may slow some investment or local economic incentives.
Residential and small-business electricity customers (and general taxpayers) are less likely to subsidize data-center-driven local upgrades because data centers would be required to pay for upgrades they directly cause, reducing cross-subsidies and stranded costs.
Utilities, grid operators, and state planners get clearer definitions, deadlines, forecasting, and technical assistance that improve interconnection planning, speed decision timelines, and help protect grid reliability (including the ability to delay/deny projects that threaten stability).
Data centers and the grid are incentivized to deploy and prioritize low‑ or no‑carbon generation, qualifying battery storage, and a 'clean transition tariff' financing option that can expand zero‑emission resources and reduce grid emissions over time.
Data center owners and operators will face materially higher upfront and ongoing charges (CIAC, deposits, demand charges, procurement obligations and labor requirements), which will raise project costs, may deter some investments, and could be passed through as higher prices for cloud and digital services affecting businesses and consumers.
State and local regulators, utilities, and other covered entities face substantial administrative, regulatory, and compliance burdens (new tariffs, tracking 'would not be needed but for', rulemakings, reporting, and tight deadlines), increasing costs and complexity for regulators and utilities.
The bill creates risks of arbitrary cutoffs, discretionary denials, and uneven application (e.g., a 50 MW threshold, denial authority for affordability/reliability reasons, uneven CIAC application) that could lead to inconsistent treatment across regions and regulatory gaming.
Based on analysis of 8 sections of legislative text.
Directs FERC to create data‑center load queues, require data centers to pay local upgrade costs, encourage state data‑center rate classes, and funds DOE technical assistance and forecasting programs.
Requires FERC to create data-center-specific interconnection "load queues" and standards so new large data centers advance through a managed process before connecting to the grid. Directs utilities and states to make data centers pay for local upgrades they cause, encourages state rate classes and cost-allocation rules, and sets labor, clean-energy, and load‑flexibility conditions for queue priority. Also funds and directs federal technical assistance and grant programs to help state regulators, utilities, and grid operators forecast and manage long‑term data center load growth and to adopt tariffs and transparency rules; includes timelines for agency rulemakings and state consideration of new ratemaking standards.