WASHINGTON — Senate Democrats blocked legislation Wednesday aimed at preventing consumers from paying higher prices when new data centers are built in their communities.
The vote was 57 to 43, fewer than the 60 needed to break a filibuster.
The Taxpayer Protection Act, which passed the House in a 417-3 vote two weeks ago, sets a federal standard on the issue. It also tasks state utility commissions with finding ways to force data center developers that consume huge amounts of energy to cover their own water and electricity costs for consumers.
The Senate version is led by appointed Sen. Jon Husted, R-Ohio, who is engaged in a competitive battle as he seeks his first full term in the Senate. He faces heat from his Democratic rival and former senator Sherrod Brown, who called him “the face of data centers” for fostering developments when he was lieutenant governor.
“I heard they want lower electricity prices,” Husted said Tuesday of Democrats. “All they have to do is not block it, vote for it, and it will be on the president’s desk, and we will have a bipartisan victory.”
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said the bill was simply “optional” for states and would do little beyond a partisan message for Republicans.
“Clearly and simply, the Taxpayer Protection Act is a fraud,” Schumer told reporters Tuesday. “This requires no protection. While Americans are demanding real safeguards on AI and data centers, Republicans are proposing a toothless messaging bill. We need real action on data centers.”
Schumer said Republicans should instead embrace bills from Sens. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., and Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., that would go further in imposing cost-related rules on data centers.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., rejected Democratic arguments that the bill is simply a Republican policy move aimed at protecting Husted’s re-election bid. He noted that almost all House Democrats voted for the measure.
“I don’t know how you can say that something that passed the House of Representatives 417-3 is not consequential,” Thune told reporters. “AOC voted for it there. Hakeem Jeffries voted for it there. This is a bill that could go to the president and become law. Obviously a lot of Democrats in the House of Representatives thought it was important to be in favor of and thought it did exactly what the bill purported to do.”
An NBC News poll this month found that data centers are unpopular: By nearly 6 to 1, voters said they would be less likely to vote for a candidate who favored building a data center in their community. The survey found that voters trust Democrats over Republicans by a 12-point margin to manage data centers.
Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., who is retiring, said Husted was “right to get the message across” on data center costs.
But when asked if the bill would go much beyond that, Tillis said, “No.”
“I think the best way to solve this problem is … in North Carolina, most utilities are run by public utility commissions,” Tillis said. “They’re managed through local and state decision-making processes. That’s where it should be.”
Gn usa
