Support for H.R. 9340, the Ratepayer Protection Act

To: Members of the U.S. House of Representatives

Re: Support for H.R. 9340, the Ratepayer Protection Act

ALEC Action, the 501(c)4 advocacy partner and affiliate of the American Legislative Exchange Council, writes to express strong support for H.R. 9340, the Ratepayer Protection Act, and encourages its swift adoption this week on the House Floor.

Counties and municipalities across the United States, from Northern Virginia’s “Data Center Alley” to the Ohio River Valley and even the Mountain West, are now considering whether new data center buildout is the right fit for their residents. Although there are significant economic and tax benefits that can accompany data center development, many elected officials rightly have questions about the environmental and energy ramifications of this new infrastructure.

To ensure that existing residential and commercial ratepayers are not footing the bill for energy infrastructure directly attributable to data center growth, H.R. 9340 helps thread the needle between electricity ratepayer protection and promoting a strong digital economy. If enacted, this legislation would require “large-load customers” with an aggregate peak demand of 100 megawatts or higher to be responsible for the full, incremental cost of any generation, transmission, or distribution upgrade necessary to serve their load. This would codify core elements of President Trump’s landmark Ratepayer Protection Pledge by holding data center developers accountable for their electricity needs, whether they use the power or not.

H.R. 9340 is also consistent with the ALEC Digital Infrastructure & Ratepayer and Resource Protection Accord, which was widely approved in August 2026 by the ALEC Board of Directors as well as state legislative members of the ALEC Communications and Technology Task Force and the Energy, Environment, and Agriculture Task Force. Instead of pursuing arbitrary bans, moratoria, or discriminatory taxes on data center development, governments should instead focus on policies that increase access to affordable and reliable energy, avoid socializing the costs of large-scale industrial demand on the general ratepayer, require water stewardship through evidence-based permitting, and rely on existing nuisance law to adjudicate disputes relating to noise, lighting, and localized impacts.

Therefore, ALEC Action encourages support for H.R. 9340 to promote responsible data center development, shield ratepayers from undue impacts on their electricity bills, and secure American AI leadership across the globe for decades to come.