I
119th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 10809
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
October 13, 2026
Mr. Vindman introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce
A BILL
To amend the Federal Power Act to protect ratepayers from costs relating to the electric loads of data centers and high-density computing facilities.
Short title
This Act may be cited as the Make Data Centers Pay Act
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Ratepayer protection for data center and high-density computing load
Part II of the Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 824 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:
Ratepayer protection for data center and high-density computing load
Definitions
In this section:
Commission
The term Commission means the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
Covered load
The term covered load means electric load that—
is attributable to 1 or more data centers or high-density computing facilities located at a single site, or at multiple sites under common ownership or control; and
equals or exceeds 20 megawatts or, in the case of data centers or high-density computing facilities developed in phases, is reasonably expected to equal or exceed 20 megawatts at full buildout.
Data center or high-density computing facility
In general
The term data center or high-density computing facility means a facility, or group of colocated facilities, the primary purpose of which is to house computing, networking, or data storage equipment used to process, store, or transmit digital data, including equipment used for—
artificial intelligence training or inference;
cloud computing or data hosting; or
cryptocurrency mining or other distributed-ledger or digital-asset computation.
Exclusion
The term data center or high-density computing facility does not include computing or data storage equipment that is ancillary to a facility the primary purpose of which is a commercial or industrial activity other than an activity described in subparagraph (A).
Incremental cost
The term incremental cost means the cost that would be avoided had a specific covered load not been served by the electric utility, including all costs to construct, own, and operate power generation or storage resources and electric transmission and distribution services associated with serving the covered load, based on costs estimated by the electric utility at or around the time that the covered load becomes operational and subject to approval by the Commission or a State, as appropriate.
State
The term State includes the applicable State commission and any other State authority having jurisdiction over retail electric service.
Ratepayer protection floor
No subsidy of covered load
No portion of the incremental cost may be allocated to, or recovered in the rates of, any customer other than a covered load.
Surplus permitted
Paragraph (1) does not limit the authority of the Commission or a State, under any other provision of law, to recover from covered loads amounts in excess of incremental cost and to credit those amounts to other customers as a rebate or a reduction to the utility costs that are used as a basis for the calculation of customer rates.
Continuing recovery on exit
A rate, charge, or agreement for service to a covered load shall be designed to recover from the covered load the full incremental cost of the electric utility, and such recovery shall continue notwithstanding the termination by the covered load of a contract or other agreement pertaining to the sale of electric energy, or the cessation by the covered load of the purchase of electric energy, before that incremental cost has been fully recovered.
Financial assurance
Before constructing, or making an upgrade to, a generation, transmission, or distribution facility necessary to serve a covered load, an electric utility shall require the covered load to provide financial assurances or contributions sufficient to cover the cost of the facility or upgrade, subject to the condition that any financial assurances or contributions provided by the applicable covered load to a public utility or Transmission Organization for the same facility or upgrade shall be credited against the requirement of this paragraph.
Rule of construction
Except as expressly provided in subsection (b), nothing in this section expands or diminishes the jurisdiction of the Commission or of any State, including State authority over retail electric service, rate design, and resource planning.
Applicability
Prospective application
Subsection (b) applies to a covered load that interconnects on or after the date of enactment of this section.
Existing arrangements
An arrangement to serve a covered load that was approved by the Commission or by a State before the date of enactment of this section shall remain in effect.
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