Ohio Republican Senate candidate Jon Husted attempted to fast-track a data center cost bill through the Senate, but a Democratic procedural block stopped the effort cold.
The House passed the Ratepayer Protection Act by a sweeping 417-3 vote under suspension of the rules, a procedure requiring support from two-thirds of members present and voting.
The bill directs states to consider adopting federal standards for large-scale industrial power users, addressing growing voter anger over data center development costs passed to consumers.
Rather than mandate compliance, the legislation requires states to consider standards that would make AI data centers pay the full cost of infrastructure upgrades themselves.
The bill was introduced by Rep. Gabe Evans (R-Colo.) and Rep. Kathy Castor (D-Fla.), two of their respective parties’ most vulnerable incumbents heading into November elections.
Husted, who sponsored the Senate version of the bill, sought to pass the measure through unanimous consent, a procedure requiring agreement from all 100 senators.
Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), the top Democrat on the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, blocked the unanimous consent request, effectively killing its chances before the election.
The Senate is set to leave town in two weeks, making any further legislative movement on the bill extremely unlikely before voters head to the polls.
Heinrich argued the bill lacks meaningful enforcement, saying it “does nothing to meaningfully address the rising costs of AI data center development” and called for legislation that “actually protects families.”
Some Democrats openly framed the push as a political maneuver designed to benefit Husted in a tight race rather than deliver real policy results.
“Data centers is a key issue, and Jon Husted is in a very tough race for election to the United States Senate,” said Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Illinois), the chamber’s minority whip.
Husted’s Democratic opponent, former Sen. Sherrod Brown, has accused him of helping bring data centers to Ohio during his tenure as lieutenant governor, making the issue personally damaging.
The Cook Political Report with Amy Walter currently rates the Ohio Senate race a “toss up,” underscoring just how politically consequential the data center debate has become for Husted.
Data centers, which provide computing power to train and run AI systems, consume enormous amounts of electricity and water and have drawn blame for rising utility bills across the country.
A recent New York Times/Siena poll found that 61 percent of Americans oppose building data centers in their communities, reflecting a significant and growing public backlash against the facilities.
Despite the bill’s overwhelming House support, some environmental groups pushed back hard, calling the legislation inadequate and toothless against the scale of the problem.
“If Congress truly intends to take the AI data center crisis seriously, it must reject this pointless legislation that merely suggests states should act,” said Mitch Jones of Food and Water Watch.
