Husted’s Ratepayer Protection Act Bill on Data Centers Fails in Senate

The Ratepayer Protection Act, meant to protect consumers from costs of data centers, failed to reach the necessary 60 votes in the U.S. Senate on Wednesday, despite near-unanimous support in the House. The bill was sponsored by Sen. Jon Husted, R-Ohio, who faces a special election in November.

The bill came close in a 57-43 vote, with Democrat Sens. Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire, Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, Raphael Warnock of Georgia, and Jon Ossoff, also of Georgia, voting in the bill’s favor.

While speaking on the Senate floor, Husted highlighted the technology that data centers provide and concerns about costs. “As our reliance on this technology grows, so does the demand for data centers across the country,” he said. “We have to make sure that the growth of these data centers does not mean higher electric bills for working families, for senior citizens or for small businesses.”

Husted’s bill had also failed on Sept. 17 when Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., objected to unanimous consent and offered his own legislation. That unanimous consent request was blocked by Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, as he pointed out that the Ratepayer Protection Act had already passed the House.

On Sept. 16, Husted’s bill had passed 417-3 in the House and enjoyed not only Democrat votes, but also Democrat co-sponsorship.

From the Senate floor, Husted pointed out that Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., as well as Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and “every single member of the House Democratic leadership … all supported the bill in the House.”

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Husted focused on the significance of such support.

“You can’t get any broader support than that, folks, from Washington, D.C., in this day and age,” Husted insisted. “The Ratepayer Protection Act is such a no-brainer that the most conservative and the most liberal representatives all agreed it was good policy,” he said from the Senate floor. “They all agree … it’s ready to go. All we have to do is take yes for an answer!”

“The Ratepayer Protection Act represents the most meaningful bipartisan step Congress can take to protect the American people from paying higher prices for electricity,” Husted later said. “It demonstrates that in Washington it’s still possible to work in a bipartisan way to address the problems most pressing to the American people, and I am proud to have led this effort in the United States Senate,” he added.

Toward the end of his remarks, Husted pointed out that he “would like for everybody in this chamber to take credit for lowering electricity prices and holding data centers accountable,” but also had a warning for Democrats that if they “block this bill, they will prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that they do not care about affordability and that they will not do anything to take action to help.”

Senate Democrats, led by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., were singing a much different tune, which did not go unnoticed by Husted.

In addition to his posts on X, Husted spoke to Newsmax, offering Democrats tanked the bill “because they don’t want us to be successful in addressing the affordability issue.”

Although he reminded that Jeffries and most other Democrats voted for the bill in the House, Husted also lamented that “Chuck Schumer and the Democrats in the Senate want to stop us from getting the relief to the American ratepayer.”

“This just shows they’re not serious about the issue of affordability. We’re fighting for American consumers, and they’re blocking laws that literally could lower electric bills in this country,” he added.

Critics say they’re concerned the bill is voluntary, but the impact of denying Husted such a win months before his special election cannot be denied.

Husted faces former Democrat Sen. Sherrod Brown, who is seeking a comeback after losing to Moreno in 2024. Brown has sought to make Husted the “face of data centers” in ads.

Following the vote, Punchbowl News’ Laura Weiss reported on Husted’s remarks about a “Chuck Schumer play.”

“Now they own it. The Democrats are obstructionists on lowering electricity prices for American consumers,” Husted said.

The White House would have signed Husted’s bill, according to a Statement of Administration Policy, as touted by Husted’s office. The White House had also released a pledge calling on data centers to pay their own utility and infrastructure costs, which Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine had signed, along with 22 other Republican governors in July. That same month, Husted introduced his bill.