Senate Democrats block datacenter energy bill, saying ‘toothless’ legislation ‘misses the mark’

Republicans supported legislation although Democrats said it wouldn’t effectively address energy consumption Senate Democrats on Wednesday blocked legislation intended to offset the impact of datacenters on consumer electricity bills, calling it a “toothless” attempt to address a top voter concern ahead of November’s midterm elections. The Ratepayer Protection Act failed by a 57-to-43 vote, falling just shy of the 60 votes necessary to advance through the Republican-controlled chamber.

Four Democrats – Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire, Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and both Georgia senators, Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock – joined Republicans in support of the measure. “Americans are calling for real solutions, real guardrails, real solutions on AI. Republicans’ toothless datacenter bill completely misses the mark,” the Senate Democratic leader, Chuck Schumer, said in a floor speech before the vote.

Schumer assailed Trump for a meeting with top tech executives on Tuesday that the president said yielded a “morally binding” agreement to put controls on…