U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds is taking direct aim at the power-hungry backbone of artificial intelligence. Today, the Florida Republican dropped a federal bill that would effectively push data centers off the public grid, forcing them to supply their own electricity and water instead of drawing from municipal systems. The proposal, called the Protecting Ratepayers Act, would apply to both existing facilities and new developments across the country and would bar operators from using or interfering with public electric and water utilities. It lands as states and federal regulators scramble to keep up with the explosive growth of AI-scale data centers and the infrastructure those facilities demand.
What the bill would do
As reported by the Tampa Free Press, the Protecting Ratepayers Act would require any entity that builds, owns or operates a data center to obtain all of its power and water from alternative sources instead of tapping public utility systems. The measure, the 27th bill Donalds has filed in the 119th Congress, is pitched as a way to keep local communities from footing the bill for new power plants, transmission lines and water infrastructure needed to feed massive server farms. “The next wave of technology and innovation shouldn’t come at the expense of hardworking Americans,” Donalds said in a statement quoted by the paper.
Where it fits in the federal push
Donalds’ move plugs into a broader, cross-partisan effort in Washington to shield household utility bills from big-tech buildouts. In March 2026, the White House rolled out a Ratepayer Protection Pledge asking major tech firms to avoid shifting the costs of grid upgrades onto consumers, while lawmakers such as Rep. Kathy Castor followed with a bipartisan Ratepayer Protection Act that would tell state utility regulators to put the tab for new generation and transmission upgrades on large-load customers. Together, the White House pledge and Rep. Kathy Castor frame how federal policy makers are trying to keep pace with the infrastructure crunch.
How big a problem is this?
Federal agencies and industry analysts are not exactly calm about the numbers. The Department of Energy highlights an estimate from the Electric Power Research Institute that data centers could chew through roughly 9 percent of all U.S. electricity by 2030, with EPRI’s “Powering Intelligence” analysis sketching out even higher demand in faster-growth scenarios. Both the Department of Energy and EPRI warn that building the additional generation, transmission and water infrastructure to serve those loads can be expensive and technically complicated.
Policy tradeoffs
Policy experts say lofty pledges only go so far without hard rules behind them. A recent analysis from Brookings argues that “pay-your-own-way” promises from industry need real tariff structures and enforcement tools to stop costs from sliding back onto regular customers. At the same time, data center developers and some utilities have warned that strict federal or state mandates could scare off investment or drive projects across state lines, a tension that is already turning up in state-level fights covered by the trade press.
What's next
The bill’s path through the House is uncertain. Measures in this space typically require tight coordination among Congress, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and state public-utility commissions before any statutory changes can actually be put to work on the grid. In Florida, where Donalds is a high-profile political figure and a candidate for governor, the issue is already fueling state action and heated local arguments among officials, developers and residents. Florida Politics has tracked how that debate is playing out on the ground.
Whether Donalds’ proposal ever becomes law is anyone’s guess, but it sharpens a national fight over how to power AI-era infrastructure without whacking neighbors with higher bills. Hoodline will keep an eye on committee referrals and state regulator moves as the measure advances, stalls or gets quietly rewritten in the back rooms of the Capitol.
