A bill is underway that would require technology companies to bear the energy costs of data centers.
In the United States, data centers are being built one after another, raising concerns that their excessive power consumption will drive up electricity bills for ordinary citizens. Now, it has been revealed that the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee has unanimously passed a bill that would pass on the energy costs of data centers to technology companies.
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The Bill for Power Payers Protection (HR9340), jointly introduced by Republican and Democratic lawmakers, would require power companies that contract with technology companies managing data centers of 100 MW or more to recover the full cost of the generation, transmission, and distribution equipment required for supplying electricity from these technology companies. This would mean that technology companies would have to bear the additional costs typically incurred when large data centers are added to the power grid. The bill passed unanimously with 52 votes in favor and 0 against.
No similar legislation has existed until now; the only existing agreements were voluntary pledges from companies like Amazon, Google, and Meta to 'build or fund power generation facilities to meet the electricity needs of data centers and bear the necessary operating costs.'
This bill stipulates that power companies must charge technology companies for the costs incurred and, furthermore, require a deposit from technology companies before upgrading their facilities.
The draft targeted all companies with electricity consumption reaching 100 MW, without specifying which companies were eligible. However, this drew opposition due to concerns about the heavy burden on manufacturing companies such as steelmakers. It was subsequently revised to limit the target to 'companies operating information technology infrastructure and related data storage and computing systems with a total peak demand of at least 100 MW.'
Energy Subcommittee Chairman Bob Latta stated, 'This bill will protect against passing on the costs of data centers to the public,' and called for it to be submitted to the plenary session as soon as possible.
The construction of data centers has faced strong opposition from some industries due to concerns about rising electricity costs, as well as noise pollution and environmental pollution during operation. In states like New York, legislation has been passed to temporarily halt the construction of new large-scale data centers exceeding 20MW, with the aim of examining the issues during the waiting period.
New York State Legislature passes bill to halt construction of new large-scale data centers for one year; if signed by the governor, it will be the first such measure in the entire state - GIGAZINE
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