Ratepayer Protection Act
Latest action (16 Sep 2026): On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended Agreed to by the Yeas and Nays: (2/3 required): 417 - 3 (Roll no. 312).
What this bill does
H.R. 9340, the Ratepayer Protection Act, would amend the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 to create a new federal standard for how electric utilities charge "large-load customers"—defined as non-residential customers whose facilities are used primarily for data storage and computing (such as data centers) and that have a peak electricity demand of 100 megawatts or more at a single site. Under the standard, utility rates for these customers must be designed to recover the full, incremental cost of any generation, transmission, or distribution upgrades needed to serve them, even if the customer later ends its contract or stops buying power. Utilities would also be required to obtain financial assurances or upfront contributions from such customers before building the necessary upgrades.
The bill directs state regulatory authorities and nonregulated utilities to begin considering adoption of this standard within one year of enactment and to complete their review within two years, though states that have already adopted a comparable standard, held a related proceeding, or had their legislature vote on the issue before enactment would be exempted from these deadlines.
The measure primarily affects utilities, state regulators, and large commercial electricity users like data center operators, with the stated aim of preventing costs of infrastructure upgrades for such customers from being shifted onto other ratepayers. Having passed the House by a 417-3 vote on September 16, 2026, the bill now goes to the Senate for consideration.
Plain-English summary generated by Bill100 AI from the official record. Always verify against the source below.
Official summary
Ratepayer Protection Act
The bill requires state utility regulators and nonregulated utilities to consider implementing a standard to hold certain large-load customers responsible for the costs associated with any generation, transmission, or distribution upgrade of electric service necessary to serve such customers. A large-load customer means a non-residential electric consumer that enters, or requests to enter, an agreement concerning the sale of electric energy primarily to operate information technology infrastructure and related systems pertaining to data storage and computational applications and services (e.g., data centers) that have a peak electric demand of 100 megawatts or more at a single site or campus.
Specifically, the bill requires states to consider implementing a federal standard for large-load customers. The standard must require rates charged by electric utilities for providing electric service to a large-load customer to be designed to recover from the large-load customer the full, incremental cost of any generation, transmission, or distribution upgrade necessary to serve such customer. This rate must include the costs that would be incurred if the large-load customer terminates an agreement with the electric utility pertaining to the sale of electric energy or otherwise ceases the purchase of energy from the electric utility.
Under the standard, an electric utility must require the large-load customer to provide to the utility financial assurances or contributions to cover the cost of any generation, transmission, or distribution upgrade that is necessary to serve the load of a large-load customer before the utility makes any generation, transmission, or distribution upgrade.
Timeline
16 Sep 2026
On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended Agreed to by the Yeas and Nays: (2/3 required): 417 - 3 (Roll no. 312).
21 Jul 2026
Ordered to be Reported in the Nature of a Substitute by the Yeas and Nays: 52 - 0.
Common questions
- What does H.R. 9340 do?
- H.R. 9340, the Ratepayer Protection Act, would amend the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 to create a new federal standard for how electric utilities charge "large-load customers"—defined as non-residential customers whose facilities are used primarily for data storage and computing (such as data centers) and that have a peak electricity demand of 100 megawatts or more at a single site. Under the standard, utility rates for these customers must be designed to recover the full, incremental cost of any generation, transmission, or distribution upgrades needed to serve them, even if the customer later ends its contract or stops buying power. Utilities would also be required to obtain financial assurances or upfront contributions from such customers before building the necessary upgrades. The bill directs state regulatory authorities and nonregulated utilities to begin considering adoption of this standard within one year of enactment and to complete their review within two years, though states that have already adopted a comparable standard, held a related proceeding, or had their legislature vote on the issue before enactment would be exempted from these deadlines. The measure primarily affects utilities, state regulators, and large commercial electricity users like data center operators, with the stated aim of preventing costs of infrastructure upgrades for such customers from being shifted onto other ratepayers. Having passed the House by a 417-3 vote on September 16, 2026, the bill now goes to the Senate for consideration.
- Has H.R. 9340 become law?
- Not yet. As of 16 Sep 2026, H.R. 9340 is passed house (senate next).
- Who sponsored H.R. 9340?
- H.R. 9340 was sponsored by Rep. Gabe Evans [R-CO8] (Republican-CO), with 42 cosponsors.
- What's the latest action on H.R. 9340?
- On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended Agreed to by the Yeas and Nays: (2/3 required): 417 - 3 (Roll no. 312). (16 Sep 2026).
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