Colorado congressman introduces a bill requiring AI data center operators to fund local electric grid infrastructure expansion in their regions.

A bill championed by Rep. Gabe Evans, a Republican representing Colorado’s 8th Congressional District, designed to prevent local communities from absorbing the costs of electric grid upgrades required for new data centers, has advanced to a full U.S. House vote after clearing a key congressional committee. The bipartisan “Ratepayer Protection Act” passed the House Energy and Commerce Committee unanimously and is expected to receive a floor vote this week.

The legislation would establish federal standards for state utility regulators to apply when large-load customers, including data centers, connect to the electric grid. It targets new facilities with electricity demands of 100 megawatts or more, mandating financial assurances to ensure companies cover the costs associated with generation, transmission, and other infrastructure needed to serve their power requirements.

According to Evans, the measure also aims to shield existing ratepayers and municipalities from being left with stranded costs if a data center scales back operations or disconnects from the grid. “So as you know, Dillon, the Ratepayer Protection Act, my bill, bipartisan, passed unanimously out of the Energy and Commerce Committee that I sit on,” Evans told CBS Colorado’s Dillon Thomas. He noted the committee approved the measure 52–0 in July, and his office confirmed the legislation has garnered 41 House cosponsors.

“This one is a little bit of a unicorn. There's a lot of things that passed with bipartisan support. I can't remember the last time that something passed out of the Energy and Commerce Committee with unanimous support,” Evans said. The push for federal oversight comes amid rapid data center expansion and surging electricity demand. In Northern Colorado, Weld County recently approved a new data center east of Windsor, which will be operated by OpenAI.

Evans emphasized that the bill establishes preemptive protections before projects strain regional grids. “This is putting those commonsense federal guardrails in place so that people know that they're not going to have a higher electric bill as a result of a data center moving in,” he said. The proposal requires large-load customers to provide financial guarantees covering necessary infrastructure, ensuring utilities and current ratepayers are not left responsible for unbilled costs.

With data center growth projected to continue, Evans stressed the importance of addressing both grid infrastructure and data security. “They're going to get built, just in places like China (if Americans don't accept them). So, something that's important to me, that's important to a lot of the folks that I talk to, is they want to make sure their data is secure,” he said. Evans expects the bill to draw overwhelming bipartisan support when it reaches the House later this week. If passed, the legislation will advance to the Senate, where Evans noted a backlog of pending measures awaits consideration.