Republican Senator Josh Hawley is calling for a nationwide moratorium on new data centers until Congress guarantees taxpayers protection against higher electricity bills. The Senate voted 73-25 to advance a bipartisan bill that would speed up energy infrastructure permits and require data center operators to cover the additional grid costs they create. U.S. data centers consumed an estimated 183 terawatt-hours of electricity in 2024, and that figure could reach 426 terawatt-hours by 2030. A Pew survey found that 60% of Americans are uncomfortable with a new data center in their area, but Hawley has not introduced detailed legislation defining the moratorium’s scope or duration.
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