America's growing digital economy requires power grid updates. Who will foot the bill?
Source: CoinDesk ·
From the source
Congress must decide how the U.S. can build the infrastructure its booming digital economy requires while protecting the communities that host it. The Ratepayer Protection Act recently failed a procedural vote in the U.S. Senate. With 57 senators voting to advance the measure and 43 opposed, it fell short of the 60 votes needed to move forward. This isn't the end of the story for this policy idea. It is the beginning of a trend that will characterize the end of this year and the next Congress: the push to regulate every layer of the digital infrastructure and AI stack. Championed by Sen. Jon Husted (R-Ohio) and Reps. Gabe Evans (R-Colo.) and Kathy Castor (D-Fla.), the Ratepayer Protection Act aims to protect households and small businesses from paying for infrastructure needed by large data centers. It would require state utility regulators and certain utilities to consider standards under which computing facilities with peak electricity demand of at least 100 megawatts would cover…