The Senate is preparing to return for a final stretch of legislative business before the November midterm elections, with a contentious energy bill now at the center of political maneuvering.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) told reporters that a wide array of bills could potentially come to the floor in the remaining weeks before voters head to the polls.
Among the measures Thune flagged was a test vote on legislation known as the Ratepayer Protection Act, designed to address rising electricity prices tied to the rapid expansion of data centers.
The bill would require state regulators to consider adopting standards ensuring that large data centers pay for electric grid upgrades made necessary by their enormous power demands.
The House passed the Ratepayer Protection Act by a lopsided 417 votes to 3 on September 16, sending the measure to the Senate with rare bipartisan momentum behind it.
Under the bill’s framework, facilities reaching peak electricity demand of at least 100 megawatts would fall within the definition of a large-load customer subject to the new cost requirements.
Utilities would also be allowed to require financial assurances from data center operators before beginning related grid upgrades, a provision supporters say protects ordinary ratepayers from absorbing those costs.
The measure would require state regulators to consider the standard rather than impose a single national rate, giving states flexibility in how they respond to the federal guidance.
Despite its overwhelming House passage, Democrats blocked an effort by Sen. Jon Husted (R-OH) to clear the measure for President Trump’s signature through unanimous consent.
Democratic Sen. Martin Heinrich objected to Husted’s attempt, arguing that the legislation did not go far enough in protecting consumers and communities affected by data center development.
Husted faces a tough reelection challenge from Democratic former Sen. Sherrod Brown, in a race rated a Toss-up by Inside Elections, giving the procedural fight an unmistakable electoral dimension.
Nearly two-thirds of registered voters nationally said they would be less likely to support a candidate who backed a data center in their community, handing Democrats a potential weapon in Ohio’s deadlocked Senate contest.
Democrats see the Republican push to advance the bill before November as a calculated attempt to give Husted a legislative win he can campaign on in a race that could determine Senate control.
The standoff illustrates the difficulty of separating energy policy from political strategy in an election year where control of the Senate remains very much in play.
