A state senator says she is introducing legislation she calls the “Pennsylvania Ratepayer Protection Act” to create a separate electricity rate class for “everyday” citizens and data centers. The bill would mandate that the operators of the high-load systems pay for any infrastructure needs.
Democrat Katie Muth says, “Without reform, the cost of utility infrastructure built to serve massive data center facilities will fall on everyday Pennsylvanians, even though they receive little to no benefit from these projects.”
New or expanding data centers that require twenty megawatts of electricity or more would be required to commit to at least ten years of responsibility for the cost for expanding the power grid and report annual electricity and water consumption. The Public Utility Commission would establish the rules for the data centers to follow and would also enforce compliance.
In her co-sponsorship memo, Muth writes that “With major data center projects proposed along PJM transmission lines, we must act before these projects are approved and costs are passed on to ordinary ratepayers through future rate increases.”
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