Frank Pallone, Jr.

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Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I rise in support of H.R. 9340, the Ratepayer Protection Act. Everyone knows that data centers are helping drive electricity prices to record highs this year. Just in the mid-Atlantic over the past few years, data centers have increased electric bills by over $30 billion. By and large, it has not been the data centers that have been footing the bill. It has been our constituents. This problem is happening across the Nation, from Texas to California, from Florida to Washington State. It doesn't matter if you are in a red State or a blue State. Your prices have gone up. Americans, Mr. Speaker, are concerned about what data centers and Big Tech's push for more AI means for their communities, jobs, property values, and the future. Electricity prices are skyrocketing. The electric grid is strained. Our clean air and water are being polluted. Noise is wearing on our communities' health and patience. People, frankly, are sick and tired of corporate special interests and Big Tech billionaires taking over their neighborhoods and threatening their utility bills, air, water, and property. Unfortunately, these very real concerns are repeatedly swept to the sidelines, minimized, or ridiculed by President Trump and Republican congressional leaders. Last month, Trump posted on social media that communities that opposed data centers must want to end up being backward and poor. The President, in my opinion, is out of touch on this issue, and the American people are demanding action. That is the reality we are living in right now, where President Trump wants to continue to give Big Tech free rein to build data centers, with no Federal guardrails. This bill is a start in addressing the impact that data centers have on our power bills, but this particular bill does not go far enough to ensure that Big Tech and other data center owners fully pay for the energy use and demand that they create. The bill requires State utility regulators to consider--and I say ``consider''--mandating that the electricity prices that data centers pay fully account for all their costs that they impose on the grid. This includes new and upgraded power plants, high-voltage transmission lines, and local power lines. We can all agree that data centers must pay their fair share and that the data centers themselves allegedly agree, but this bill, I do believe, is one small step in that direction. The bill, as I said, isn't perfect. It also only addresses one small part of the puzzle. It does not change how wholesale generation or transmission costs are allocated at the Federal level. It doesn't push for the transparency and data-transfer mechanisms that State regulators need to ensure that data centers actually are paying their fair share. Data centers must bring their own clean electricity generation capacity onto the grid and be willing to get curtailed first when there are grid reliability issues. Now, Representative Landsman from Ohio has a bill that would kick FERC into gear to start studying some of those issues. It passed the Energy and Commerce Committee unanimously nearly 2 months ago, but unfortunately, House Republican leadership did not include that bill on the floor this week. Regardless of what happens with this bill in the Senate, I will make a commitment to the American people, Mr. Speaker. Americans across the country are furious about the unchecked development of data centers and artificial intelligence. They are furious about what it means for their communities, for their jobs, or even for their lives. I promise that this bill is not the end of our focus on these issues. It is only the beginning. I have repeatedly said that we need strong guardrails on data centers and the impact they have on our communities, our environment, and our bills. If we can't establish those strong guardrails, then it is my belief that we will need to establish a moratorium on constructing new data centers. This bill by itself, or even in combination with a number of other bills we are considering this week, is simply not enough, but it is a start. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support the bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.