{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.hoeven.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/hoeven-ratepayer-protection-act-ensures-data-centers-pay-for-energy-needs-protects-families-from-higher-costs", "Hoeven: Ratepayer Protection Act Ensures Data Centers Pay for Energy Needs, Protects Families From Higher Costs", "2026-09-30", "2026", "2026-09", "Republican", "Senate", "ND", "John Hoeven", "H001061", "www.hoeven.senate.gov", "hoeven", "https://www.hoeven.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON \u2013 Senator John Hoeven, a member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, issued the following statement after Senate Democrats blocked consideration of the Ratepayer Protection Act, legislation he is cosponsoring to protect families and small businesses from paying higher energy costs to support new data center development. Earlier this month, the House of Representatives approved the legislation in a strong bipartisan vote of 417-3.\n\n\u201cAmerican families shouldn\u2019t have to pay higher energy costs if a data center is built in their community,\u201d said Hoeven. \u201cOur legislation would protect consumers from these rate increases resulting from data center construction. Instead of passing on higher energy costs to families and small businesses, the Ratepayer Protection Act will help ensure that the data center is responsible for paying for the infrastructure upgrades as well as fixed costs as a result of their demand for energy. This legislation passed the House with almost unanimous support, and we\u2019ll continue working to get Senate Democrats on board with this common-sense legislation.\u201d\n\nSpecifically, the Ratepayer Protection Act:\n\nCreates a standard for State utility commissions to enforce for large-load data centers drawing more than 100 MW of power to pay the full cost of the electricity needed to serve them.\n\nRequires large loads to provide financial assurances before grid upgrades are made.\n\nGuarantees cost recovery if a large load exits its power supply contract early.\n\n-###-", 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://www.hoeven.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/hoeven-ratepayer-protection-act-ensures-data-centers-pay-for-energy-needs-protects-families-from-higher-costs"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.362358219921589, "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"}