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Lawmakers, witnesses say data-center buildout must protect local ratepayers
Summary
Representatives and witnesses at a congressional hearing said large AI data centers can raise local energy costs and urged frameworks to prevent rate increases for ordinary households, recommending congressional action to codify ratepayer protections.
Representative Andre Carson raised concerns that large AI data centers being placed in communities may raise electricity prices for ordinary ratepayers and said data centers should "pay their way" and not pass costs to local users.
Dr. Kyle Chan and Yousef Mahmoud agreed, calling community impacts "very real" and urging a robust framework to ensure local communities do not bear disproportionate costs of national compute build-out. Mahmoud proposed that Congress codify a ratepayer-protection pledge and that the committee consider mechanisms to require local mitigation measures.
Witnesses and members discussed energy constraints as a strategic bottleneck for U.S. AI competitiveness and said that planning for energy capacity and community protections should be part of any national compute strategy. No formal directives were issued during the hearing.
