Rep. Brett Guthrie (R-KY) recently argued that winning the technology race should not come at the expense of American households. Legislation like the Ratepayer Protection Act is needed to ensure that communities are not left paying for the additional electricity infrastructure required to power large technology facilities. The principle is straightforward: if you create additional costs, you should cover them.

That is precisely what the proposed bill requires of large data centers, ensuring that extraordinary demands for electricity do not translate into higher costs for ordinary ratepayers. More than 300 companies have signed up to honor the White House Ratepayer Protection Pledge, which originally advanced the policy.