Bipartisan data center bill fractures Democrats ahead of midterm elections

Published October 1, 2026 5:00am ET | Updated October 1, 2026 7:51am ET



Senate Democrats may have denied Republicans a midterm win by blocking a GOP senator’s bipartisan data center bill, but in the process, they revealed an out-of-sync party strategy over how to handle the increasingly contentious campaign issue.

The Ratepayer Protection Act, meant to prevent data centers from raising electricity prices in surrounding communities, enjoyed sweeping support in the House from all but three Democrats, while all but four of their colleagues in the Senate opposed it.

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