US Senate rejects bill targeting AI data centre electricity costs

The measure failed by a vote of 57 to 43 on Wednesday. The proposal needed to pass by at least 60 votes to prevent a filibuster, a procedural hurdle in the Senate that can stymie a bill indefinitely.

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Somente quatro democratas — Maggie Hassan, Amy Klobuchar, Jon Ossoff e Raphael Warnock — juntaram-se aos republicanos para apoiar o projeto de lei, que os proponentes afirmam que teria aliviado o peso dos crescentes custos de energia nas residências individuais.

The artificial intelligence (AI) boom has led to increasing demand for data centres, which provide computing power for the new technology.

Existem até 5. 400 data centers atualmente nos EUA, de acordo com algumas estimativas. Críticos argumentam que as instalações exigem quantidades substanciais de energia para operar, contribuindo para custos de eletricidade mais altos.

The Ratepayer Protection Act, a first-of-its-kind bipartisan bill, was aimed at addressing the economic concerns linked to the expansion of data centres.

It passed the House of Representatives earlier this month in a landslide vote of 417 to three.

But Democrats in the Senate argued the bill does not go far enough to protect consumers from high electricity bills. Rather than requiring states to “consider” a federal utility rate standard, some senators advocated instead for mandatory enforcement to guarantee consumer relief.

Other critics described the bill as a last-ditch Republican effort to secure a legislative victory ahead of the November midterm elections.

Senate Democratic Party leader Chuck Schumer, for instance, dismissed the legislation as “toothless”. He noted that the bill failed to require data centres to cover the costs they incur in upgrades to electricity infrastructure.

Ele desafiou os republicanos a demonstrarem seu compromisso com a questão aprovando uma alternativa democrática que “tem dentes”.

Apesar de forte resistência, milhares de centros de dados já se espalham pelos EUA, com obras em andamento para dezenas mais. Enquanto os estados da Virgínia e do Texas lideram o país em instalações operacionais, Califórnia, Ohio e Nova York seguem de perto como principais centros de infraestrutura digital.

According to a September poll, 53 percent of Americans are “extremely” or “very” concerned about the impact of data centres on electricity prices or water supplies in the communities where they are built.

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