Rep Tonko Introduces Power for the People Act to Shield Consumers from Rising Energy Costs

Rep Paul Tonko (D-NY) introduced the Power for the People Act in the House, legislation that ensures data centers are held responsible for the high costs of their electricity demand. Senator Van Hollen (D-MD) has introduced companion legislation in the Senate. The rise of artificial intelligence models has resulted in data center development exploding in recent years. With data centers critical to national security, economic development, and job growth, their need will only increase. However, data centers are huge energy consumers, and their rapid growth and energy demand is placing increased strain on the electric grid. Without proper backstops in place, new energy demand from data centers will continue to increase prices, resulting in big profits for energy companies and big bills for electricity customers. The Power for the People Act will:

• Direct the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to issue a rule to ensure data centers are paying for the local transmission upgrades they require
• Direct FERC to issue a rule requiring electric grid operators to create a data center load queue
• Create a system to manage data center interconnection to the grid that would prioritize data centers that:
  • Bring their own new power generation and battery storage systems to the grid;
  • Mitigate pollution; and
  • Create good-paying jobs 
• Support efforts to improve accurate data center load forecasting