A Democratic bill with 27 Democratic cosponsors · See all 27 cosponsors
Last activity — Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
In committee
Introduced and handed to a committee in the chamber it started in.
The committee holds it, and most bills are never heard from again. A hearing or a committee vote would be news; silence is the usual outcome, and it kills the bill without anyone voting against it.
Its path through Congress
- Introduced
- In Committee
What this bill would do
The Power for the People Act of 2026 aims to mitigate the impact of data centers on electricity consumers by creating specific load queues and rate classes. The bill seeks to prevent households and businesses from subsidizing the rising energy costs and infrastructure needs driven by rapid data center growth. It directs the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to require interconnection entities to establish load queues that prioritize data centers implementing specific energy and labor strategies. Additionally, the bill encourages states to adopt data center-specific rate classes to ensure owners pay for necessary grid upgrades. The legislation also includes provisions for technical assistance and grants to support these regulatory changes.
Yes· 3 of 13
- Scored +7
Does this put more rules on large technology companies?
The bill imposes new regulatory requirements and load queues specifically for large-scale data centers.
- Scored +6
Does this give people more protection from unfair business practices?
The bill protects electricity consumers from subsidizing the infrastructure costs of large data centers.
- Scored +6
Would union members be better off under this?
The bill mandates prevailing wages and promotes the use of registered apprenticeship programs and labor peace agreements.
The opposite
- Scored -3
Would business owners be better off under this?
The bill increases regulatory and infrastructure costs specifically for large-scale data center operators.
Who it would affect, and how
Potential Positive Impacts for People
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Reduced Energy Costs for Ratepayers: The bill seeks to prevent households and businesses from paying for the energy and infrastructure demands of data centers through rising bills (Section 2).
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Protection of Grid Reliability and Affordability: By creating load queues, the bill aims to ensure that data center interconnections do not create reliability risks or increase electricity costs for non-data center users (Section 4(a)(2)).
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Job Creation and Higher Wages: The bill encourages data center development that provides good-paying job opportunities and requires construction workers to be paid prevailing wages (Section 4(b)(3)).
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Support for Apprenticeships: The bill promotes the use of registered apprenticeship programs in the construction of data centers and energy resources (Section 4(b)(3)(B)).
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Environmental Benefits: The bill prioritizes interconnection for data centers that bring low- or no-carbon energy resources to the grid, which helps minimize climate and environmental impacts (Section 4(b)(1)(F) and Section 4(d)).
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Financial Assistance for States: The Secretary is directed to establish a program providing grants and technical assistance to help states create appropriate rate classes (Section 7(a)).
Potential Negative Impacts for People
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Potential Delay in Data Center Interconnection: The creation of load queues may result in delaying or denying interconnection for data centers to protect grid reliability or affordability (Section 4(a)(2)).
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Increased Costs for Data Center Operators: Data center owners may face new financial burdens, such as paying for required system upgrades, higher upfront interconnection study costs, and minimum demand charges (Section 2 and Section 6(a)(ii)).
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Increased Costs for Transmission Upgrades: The bill directs the allocation of local transmission upgrade costs specifically to interconnecting data centers (Section 5(1)).
Groups and Interests Ranking
Every group the model scored this bill for, from -10 to +10. Tap or hover a score for the reason it gave.
- Economy And Finance
- Does this give people more protection from unfair business practices? — The bill protects electricity consumers from subsidizing the infrastructure costs of large data centers. Does this strengthen the rights of workers to organise? — The bill promotes labor peace agreements and project labor agreements, strengthening union influence in the energy sector. Is this likely to create jobs? — The bill incentivizes good-paying jobs through requirements for prevailing wages and apprenticeship programs in data center construction.
- Environment Energy And Infrastructure
- Does this put more money into wind, solar and other renewable power? — The bill incentivizes the use of low-carbon generation and energy storage technologies. Does this cut the pollution that drives climate change? — The bill prioritizes data centers that use low- or no-carbon forms of energy generation. Does this better protect air, water and wildlife? — The legislation includes provisions to mitigate local air and noise pollution from data center development.
- Demographic And Interest Groups
- Would union members be better off under this? — The bill mandates prevailing wages and promotes the use of registered apprenticeship programs and labor peace agreements. Would households on low incomes be better off under this? — The bill aims to protect lower-income ratepayers from rising electricity costs caused by data center expansion. Would middle-income households be better off under this? — The bill seeks to prevent middle-class households from subsidizing data center infrastructure costs. Would business owners be better off under this? — The bill increases regulatory and infrastructure costs specifically for large-scale data center operators.
- Governance And Ideology
- Does this give the federal government more power? — The bill expands the oversight and authority of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission over data center interconnections. Does this make what the government does easier for the public to see? — The bill establishes new transparency and disclosure requirements for data center load interconnection requests. Does this leave more decisions to the states? — The bill encourages states to implement their own specific rate classes for data centers.
- Education And Technology
- Does this put more rules on large technology companies? — The bill imposes new regulatory requirements and load queues specifically for large-scale data centers.
- 9/16/2026
- 1 Cosponsor added.
- 9/1/2026
- 1 Cosponsor added.
- 8/27/2026
- 1 Cosponsor added.
- 7/22/2026
- 1 Cosponsor added.
- 6/18/2026
- 1 Cosponsor added.
- 4/30/2026
- 1 Cosponsor added.
- 4/27/2026
- 1 Cosponsor added.
- 4/22/2026
- 1 Cosponsor added.
- 4/21/2026
- 1 Cosponsor added.
- 4/20/2026
- 2 Cosponsors added.
- 4/9/2026
- Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
- 16 Cosponsors added.
- Introduced in House
One bill Congress.gov lists as related to this one — companions in the other chamber, earlier versions, and bills this one absorbed or was folded into.
Becca BalintDemocrat · Vermont
Kathy CastorDemocrat · Florida
Steve CohenDemocrat · Tennessee
Mark DeSaulnierDemocrat · California
Madeleine DeanDemocrat · Pennsylvania
Maxine DexterDemocrat · Oregon
Veronica EscobarDemocrat · Texas
Sarah ElfrethDemocrat · Maryland
Valerie FousheeDemocrat · North Carolina
John GaramendiDemocrat · California
Daniel GoldmanDemocrat · New York
Glenn IveyDemocrat · Maryland
Stephen LynchDemocrat · Massachusetts
Mike LevinDemocrat · California
George LatimerDemocrat · New York
Kweisi MfumeDemocrat · Maryland
Betty McCollumDemocrat · Minnesota
Jennifer McClellanDemocrat · Virginia
April McClain DelaneyDemocrat · Maryland
Kristen McDonald RivetDemocrat · Michigan
Eleanor NortonDemocrat · District of Columbia
Johnny OlszewskiDemocrat · Maryland
Chellie PingreeDemocrat · Maine
Brittany PettersenDemocrat · Colorado
Mike QuigleyDemocrat · Illinois
Janice SchakowskyDemocrat · Illinois
Lauren UnderwoodDemocrat · Illinois