{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://gabeevans.house.gov/media/press-releases/senate-democrats-block-congressman-gabe-evans-bipartisan-ratepayer-protection", "Senate Democrats Block Congressman Gabe Evans\u2019 Bipartisan Ratepayer Protection Act", "2026-09-30", "2026", "2026-09", "Republican", "House", "CO", "Gabe Evans", "E000300", "gabeevans.house.gov", "gabeevans", "https://gabeevans.house.gov/media/press-releases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON \u2014 Today, Senate Democrats blocked Congressman Gabe Evans\u2019 bipartisan Ratepayer Protection Act from advancing \u2014for the second time in two weeks\u2014despite the legislation previously passing the U.S. House of Representatives nearly unanimously with an overwhelming 417\u20133 vote.\n\nThe legislation received 57 votes in the Senate (53 Republicans and 4 Democrats) but failed to reach the 60 votes necessary to advance. Colorado Senators Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper both voted against advancing the legislation\u2014despite every Republican and Democrat member of Colorado's House delegation supporting it\u2014once again proving their prioritization of politics over protecting Colorado families. Coloradans have spoken and their Senators have ignored them.\n\n\u201cRather than joining the House in putting Americans first, Senate Democrats choose to prioritize political games over a commonsense solution that protects ratepayers across the country. My legislation earned 417 votes in the House, because we understand protecting hardworking families from costs they didn\u2019t create shouldn't be controversial. The House proved that this wasn\u2019t a partisan issue. Senate Democrats decided to make it one.\u201d \u2014 Congressman Gabe Evans\n\nEvans\u2019 Ratepayer Protection Act is designed to protect American families, farmers, seniors, and small businesses from being stuck with the costs of new energy infrastructure needed to serve large-load data centers.\n\nUnder the legislation, regulators in states without comparable protections, including Colorado, would be required to hold a public hearing on a strong federal standard which requires large-load data centers pay the full incremental costs of the new power generation, transmission, distribution, and other electric infrastructure necessary to serve them. The legislation also preserves states\u2019 authority to determine how to best implement such a standard for their electric grids and communities.\n\nThe Senate vote follows an earlier attempt to advance the legislation after its House passage. Sen. Jon Husted (R-OH), who is leading the legislation in the Senate, previously sought unanimous consent to move the Ratepayer Protection Act forward, but Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-NM) objected.\n\nThe legislation previously passed the House Energy and Commerce Committee unanimously, 52\u20130, before passing the full House 417\u20133.\n\nThe Ratepayer Protection Act would require regulators to consider policies alongside community members that:\n\nEnsure qualifying large-load customers are responsible for the full incremental costs of generation, transmission, and distribution upgrades necessary to serve their electricity demand.\n\nRequire financial assurances so families and businesses are not left paying for infrastructure built for a large-load data centers that later scales back operations or leaves.\n\nGive states flexibility to determine how those protections should be implemented based on their individual grids, industries, and energy needs.\n\nThe legislation applies to non-residential customers with an aggregate peak electric demand of 100 megawatts or more at a single site or campus.\n\nBackground\n\nCongressman Evans introduced the bipartisan Ratepayer Protection Act alongside Congresswoman Kathy Castor (D-FL) in June.\n\nThe legislation builds on the principle that America can continue developing the infrastructure necessary to lead the world in artificial intelligence without forcing families and small businesses to pay costs created by large-load customers.\n\nThe bill would establish a federal standard for states to consider while preserving state authority over retail electricity rates. States that have already implemented a comparable standard, considered one through a regulatory proceeding, or voted on one through their legislature would not be required to repeat that process.\n\nThe Ratepayer Protection Act builds on the principles of President Trump\u2019s Ratepayer Protection Pledge, which calls for protecting American consumers from increased costs associated with data center development.\n\nCongressman Evans will continue working with Senator Husted and colleagues in both chambers to advance protections for American ratepayers.", 1, "2026-10-01T11:23:28Z", "2026-10-01T11:25:15Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://gabeevans.house.gov/media/press-releases/senate-democrats-block-congressman-gabe-evans-bipartisan-ratepayer-protection"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.9663780219852924, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}