A bipartisan bill from Sens. Josh Hawley and Richard Blumenthal would bar utilities from passing data center energy costs on to ratepayers and require new facilities to rely on separate power sources rather than plugging into the existing grid. Supporters say it’s a clean way to shield households from higher bills as AI demand surges.

But critics warn the proposal could effectively freeze new grid-connected data centers, inject uncertainty into projects already in development, and raise constitutional questions about federal authority over state-regulated utilities.