This bill, the Power for the People Act of 2026, directs the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and other agencies to create new rules for how large data centers connect to the electric grid. It defines "data centers" as facilities (or groups of facilities in the same utility area) with energy demand greater than 50 megawatts. Key requirements in the bill include: FERC must issue a rule within 180 days requiring covered interconnection entities (ISOs, RTOs, and certain transmitting utilities) to create data center load queues; priority in those queues goes to data centers that bring or pay for low- or no-carbon energy resources, qualifying battery storage, or qualifying load flexibility agreements and that meet labor standards during construction and operation. The bill allows covered interconnection entities to delay or deny interconnection if a data center would harm grid reliability or the affordability of electricity for other users. It also directs utilities to file tariff changes to allocate local transmission upgrade costs that result from data centers to those data centers, and it amends Federal law to require States to consider creating data-center-specific rate classes with measures such as minimum demand charges, longer contract lengths, higher up-front interconnection costs, and contribution-in-aid-of-construction. The Secretary of Energy must provide grants and technical assistance to States and utilities on rate-class creation and forecasting, and FERC must set transparency and disclosure rules for data center interconnection requests. The bill includes labor and apprenticeship requirements, labor peace agreement expectations for resource operators, and a sliding scale that gives higher queue priority to lower-carbon generation.
No publicly available information on a total dollar cost. The bill authorizes the Secretary of Energy to provide grants and technical assistance and authorizes "such sums as are necessary" for those programs (sections on creating appropriate rate classes and technical forecasting assistance). The bill also directs utilities to file tariff amendments to allocate local transmission upgrade costs to interconnecting data centers, but it does not specify exact dollar amounts or overall budget impacts.
The bill's text and "Sense of Congress" explain that proponents believe: households and businesses are currently subsidizing data center development through higher energy bills; data center electricity demand is growing quickly and could harm grid reliability and affordability; data center owners and operators should be accountable for costs and pay for added generation, storage, or transmission needed to serve them; and Federal oversight, targeted rate classes, and requirements can protect other ratepayers, limit environmental impacts, and support good-paying jobs.
No publicly available information.