WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Reps. Kathy Castor (FL-14) and Gabe Evans (CO-08) celebrated the passage of their bipartisan Ratepayer Protection Act, which protects American families and small businesses from the costs of energy and grid upgrades required for new hyperscale data centers.

The Ratepayer Protection Act requires state utility regulators to establish rules ensuring communities do not pay for the costs of building new power plants, transmission lines and other upgrades to serve data centers. Without proper safeguards, families and small businesses in communities where data center development occurs could see their electric bills skyrocket. The Ratepayer Protection Act ensures that wealthy Big Tech companies cover the full energy and infrastructure costs of new data center development and are held accountable for their promises.

“Floridians already are dealing with sky-high electric bills. They should not be forced to subsidize the enormous energy demands of the world’s richest corporations,” said Rep. Castor. “If Big Tech builds a massive AI data center, the Big Tech company—not hardworking families, farmers or small businesses—should pay for their power and grid upgrades. The bipartisan Ratepayer Protection Act is an important first step that can help lower costs for our neighbors back home and empower states to set strict guardrails.”

“Hardworking families should not have to subsidize the energy demands of data centers. America needs the infrastructure to lead the world in AI and outcompete Communist China, but we cannot have that growth at the expense of hardworking families, farmers, seniors, and small businesses. My bipartisan Ratepayer Protection Act ensures large data centers pay for the infrastructure they require while giving states the flexibility to determine what works best for their communities. I’m incredibly proud to lead the charge on this pivotal issue, ensure our ratepayers are protected, and keep American innovation moving forward,” said Rep. Evans.

Castor strongly opposes data center development in Hillsborough County due to high electric bills and environmental concerns and pressed the Hillsborough County Board of County Commissioners in a September 10, 2026 letter to “act decisively to protect Hillsborough County residents, resources and long-term sustainability.”

The Ratepayer Protection Act builds on Rep. Castor’s leadership on the Stopping Hikes in Electricity from large Load Demands (SHIELD) Act, which she introduced with Rep. Mike Levin (CA-49) in January.

Background

If enacted, the Ratepayer Protection Act would direct state regulators to adopt new guardrails for new data centers with a demand of 100 megawatts or more, including:

• Recovery of the full cost of upgrades for the data center through a special rate charge or other agreements. This ensures data centers are responsible for the costs associated with serving their demand rather than passing those costs on to families and businesses through higher monthly electricity bills.
• Financial assurances that require the data center to pay for any generation, transmission, or other infrastructure necessary to serve their load, protecting utilities and ratepayers from that financial burden. This protects utilities and existing customers from being left responsible for upgrade costs associated with a data center, even if that data center later reduces operations or leaves the system entirely.