Democrats blocked Senate passage of a bill aimed at shielding households from the energy costs associated with data centers, preventing the measure from being sent quickly to President Donald Trump’s desk.

Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-NM) objected to a request by Sen. Jon Husted (R-OH) for unanimous consent to pass his bill, the Ratepayer Protection Act, that would require state regulators to consider standards for new data centers and hyperscalers that consume over 100 megawatts of electricity to cover the costs of new generation, transmission, and infrastructure upgrades.

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