Legally mandating that high-demand electricity users pay for their own infrastructure needs, the House approved a bill to shield residential ratepayers from utility price hikes. This legislation, known as the Ratepayer Protection Act, forces AI data centers to cover the full incremental cost of any power grid upgrades necessitated by their energy consumption.

The 417-3 vote on Tuesday marked a rare moment of bipartisan agreement in the House, with opposition limited to three Democratic members. This mandate ensures that tech firms and other industrial power users internalize the cost of grid expansion instead of distributing those expenses across the general consumer base.