Protecting Ratepayers Act

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 9777 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 9777

 To require that new and existing data centers use off-grid power and
                water supplies, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 20, 2026

 Mr. Donalds introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
                    Committee on Energy and Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 To require that new and existing data centers use off-grid power and
                water supplies, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Protecting Ratepayers Act''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Covered entity.--The term ``covered entity'' means a
        private company, or other private entity, that--
                    (A) owns, operates, or maintains a data center; or
                    (B) has plans to own, operate, or maintain a data
                center within the next 5 years.
            (2) Data center.--The term ``data center'' means a data
        center, as defined in section 453(a) of the Energy Independence
        and Security Act of 2007 (42 U.S.C. 17112(a)), with a power
        demand of 5 megawatts or more.
            (3) Existing data center.--The term ``existing data
        center'' means a data center that has begun operations as of
        the date of enactment of this Act.
            (4) New data center.--The term ``new data center'' means a
        data center or planned data center that is not yet operational
        as of the date of enactment of this Act.

SEC. 3. DATA CENTER REQUIREMENT FOR OFF-GRID POWER AND WATER SUPPLY.

    Beginning on the date that is 180 days after the date of enactment
of this Act, a covered entity may not build, own, operate, or maintain
a new data center or existing data center unless the data center
derives all--
            (1) energy, including back-up energy, from a captive power
        plant, on-site power generation, or some other source or
        combination of sources separate from, and not deriving power
        from, the electric grid; and
            (2) water, including back-up water, from an on-site water
        source, or some other water source or combination of sources
        separate from, and not deriving water from, the public water
        system.

SEC. 4. RATEPAYER PROTECTION PLEDGE.

    Proclamation of the President issued on March 9, 2026, titled
``Ratepayer Protection Pledge'' (91 Fed. Reg. 11439) shall have the
full force and effect of law.
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