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Trump: If I Can’t Have the Kennedy Center, No One Can
Confirmed
In Short: The House passed the Ratepayer Protection Act, which aims to prevent data center energy costs from spilling over to local communities.
The House of Representatives passed the Ratepayer Protection Act (RPA) on Wednesday, a bill aimed at protecting communities from the rising energy costs associated with data center development.
According to the bill, large data centers that consume 100 megawatts or more would be required to pay the full extra cost of the generation, transmission, and distribution upgrades needed to serve them.
Representative Gabe Evans, R-Colo., emphasized the need for the bill, stating, 'Hardworking families should not have to subsidize the energy demands of data centers.
Meanwhile, a growing local backlash against data centers has emerged as a key campaign issue in the upcoming midterm elections, with candidates proposing data center regulations and moratoriums.
Critics argue that data centers should pay for all of their energy use without passing costs onto consumers, and that local communities should have the final say on new projects.
What's confirmed
- The board voted to immediately close the center to the public on Tuesday, insisting it was a necessary emergency action to protect the public from unsafe conditions inside.
What's still developing
- "My neighbors across Florida are grappling with skyrocketing electric bills. Ratepayers should not have to subsidize wealthy corporations’ growing energy demands, especially from AI data centers," Castor said.
- "Michael Whatley's standard is simple: Data centers pay their own way, families pay nothing and communities decide. That means Big Tech builds or buys every megawatt it needs and covers every dime of the grid upgrades to deliver it, with zero costs shifted onto residential ratepayers. It means no special subsidies and no sweetheart deals cut over the heads of taxpayers," Whatley’s campaign said.
- It also puts a spotlight on the data center issue, which has garnered attention as a proxy for affordability, energy and regulatory debates.
- It marks the first data center-related bill passed in the 119th Congress.
- In its current form, the bill does not seek to ban data centers, set limitations on their expansion or even set regulatory guidelines for them.
- Specifically, the legislation would create a federal standard for state utility regulators to consider when they create rules for large, high-power data centers to cover the costs of power generation, transmission lines and other infrastructure upgrades needed to power those facilities, according to Evans.
- "The Board of The Kennedy Center today agreed, almost unanimously, to close the Building for Safety reasons, and so that it can begin the process of Reconstruction," Trump posted on Truth Social.
- His appointees later named the center's opera house after first lady Melania Trump and voted to rename the entire venue to the Trump-Kennedy Center, prompting litigation.