The U.S. House of Representatives is expected to vote next week on bipartisan legislation aimed at preventing the rapidly growing electricity demands of data centers from driving up power bills for households, as lawmakers face increasing pressure over the cost of the artificial intelligence boom.
Republican lawmakers plan to bring the Ratepayer Protection Act to the House floor before the midterm elections, a spokesperson for Speaker Mike Johnson said Thursday. The planned vote was first reported by Axios.
“The bill will be on the floor of the House next week,” Taylor Haulsee, a spokesperson for Johnson, said in an email, according to Reuters.
The legislation comes as data centers supporting artificial intelligence, cloud computing and other digital services consume increasing amounts of electricity. Utilities and regulators have faced growing scrutiny over whether the costs of expanding power generation and grid infrastructure to serve those facilities could ultimately be passed on to residential customers.
Government officials around the country are under pressure to ensure that households do not bear a disproportionate share of those costs, Reuters reported.
AI boom puts pressure on U.S. power grid
The issue has become increasingly significant as technology companies accelerate data center construction to meet demand for AI services.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration said this week that U.S. electricity consumption is expected to reach record levels in both 2026 and 2027, with data centers and other electricity-intensive uses contributing to the increase.
U.S. power demand is projected to rise from 4,195 billion kilowatt-hours in 2025 to 4,270 billion kilowatt-hours in 2026 and 4,349 billion kilowatt-hours in 2027, according to the EIA.
The growth is particularly pronounced in regions where large technology companies are building new facilities. Texas, for example, remains a major contributor to expected electricity-demand growth, even as some data center grid connections face delays.
The debate has also raised questions about how quickly the power grid can accommodate the expansion without increasing costs for existing customers.
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Lawmakers confront data center expansion
The Ratepayer Protection Act reflects growing political pressure to establish clearer rules around how data centers contribute to the electricity infrastructure they require.
The House vote would come as lawmakers prepare for the November midterm elections, making electricity affordability a particularly prominent issue for members facing voters.
The legislation is part of a broader debate over the economic benefits of data center investment and the infrastructure costs associated with the AI industry.
Technology companies are investing heavily in new computing capacity. Microsoft, for example, is planning to expand its global data center capacity to about 38 gigawatts by 2032, more than three times its current footprint, according to a Bloomberg News report cited by Reuters.
At the same time, the rapid expansion is creating new challenges for electricity suppliers, regulators and communities that must accommodate large, continuous power loads.
READ: Data centers face increasing scrutiny and backlash from political leaders (August 24, 2026)
Broader implications for consumers
The debate over who pays for that infrastructure could become an important part of the next phase of the U.S. AI buildout.
Supporters of the legislation argue that households should not be forced to subsidize the infrastructure required by large commercial data centers. The issue is especially sensitive in areas where utilities must invest in new generation, transmission and distribution capacity to serve major facilities.
The House’s planned consideration of the bill signals that the political debate over AI is expanding beyond technology, jobs and national competitiveness to include a more immediate question for Americans: who pays for the electricity needed to power the AI boom?