Republicans bet a data center bill can help them in November. Democrats say it’s all a ploy.

Senate Republican leaders plan a procedural vote Wednesday on the Ratepayer Protection Act, a data center measure that Democrats appear ready to block. The bill is presented as protection for consumers from higher electricity bills linked to data centers, but its actual requirement is modest: state utility regulators would have to consider adopting new federal standards, within two years, meant to make data center companies cover their own costs. Sen. Jon Husted, R-Ohio, faces a difficult re-election race and has been hit with ads, including from Democratic opponent Sherrod Brown, portraying him as the "face of data centers." Husted calls it the only bill with a chance of reaching the president's desk before the election, and says it is not mandatory because states run the grids, according to MS NOW.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called it a "fraud, plain and simple," while Sens. Chris Murphy and Richard Blumenthal described it as a campaign device. Sen. Martin Heinrich, who earlier blocked Husted's attempt to pass it by unanimous consent, is seeking mandatory cost language in a bipartisan permitting bill. The House approved the measure 417-3 earlier this month.

Some Republicans concede its limits. Sen. Josh Hawley said it is better than nothing, and Sen. Thom Tillis said it probably would help Husted, though most utilities answer to state and local decisions. Senate Majority Leader John Thune argued that a Democratic no vote would make it hard to attack Husted over costs.

Summarized by PolitiKool from MS NOW’s reporting. Read the full story at MS NOW →