Senate votes on data center bill
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The gist
The Senate voted 73-25 to advance a bipartisan bill speeding permits for energy and data center projects.
It would make large data centers pay for new power lines.
Background
The Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act (BAAJA) was introduced in late September and is moving through the Senate using H.R. 2347, originally the Survivor Justice Tax Prevention Act, as its legislative vehicle. It would require new data centers of 20 megawatts or more to pay the full added cost of the power and wires built to serve them, and would cut the window for opponents to sue over a federal permit under major environmental laws from six years to 150 days. It would also direct the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (the federal agency that regulates interstate electricity transmission) to set protections for certain large electricity users, including data centers. The push follows midterm elections in which, panelists said, voters in Texas, Ohio, Georgia and Arizona chose candidates promising to pause, limit or put conditions on data center growth.
How it unfolded
- Sep 30, 2026The Senate voted 57-43, short of the 60 needed, to block the Husted-led Ratepayer Protection Act, which had passed the House 417-3.
- Nov 4, 2026Panelists on Broadband Breakfast Live Online said voters in Texas, Ohio, Georgia and Arizona elected candidates who promised to pause, limit or put conditions on data center growth.
- Nov 7, 2026An updated version of the legislation was released; the National Association of Counties says it would create a Data Center Community Assistance Program through the U.S. Department of Energy.
- Nov 9, 2026The Senate passed a procedural cloture vote to advance the Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act, then voted 73-25 to formally take up the bill.
- Nov 10, 2026The Senate voted 73-25 to advance the permitting reform bill, which includes data center provisions; the vote allows debate but is not final approval.
Key terms
- cloture vote
- A parliamentary vote on a process or motion, such as ending debate, rather than on the substance of a bill.
- megawatts
- A unit of power equal to one million watts, used to measure the rate of energy transfer.
Source: Wikipedia
Who’s saying what
- Support
- Senator Shelley Moore Capito said the bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act is "a win for America" and that Congress cannot let the moment pass.
- Support
- Democratic sponsor Senator Sheldon Whitehouse said "the day of data center freeloading ends when this bill passes" and that it sets up clean energy work next year.
- Caution
- Jim Walsh of Food & Water Watch said the Senate "failed to learn a striking lesson from last week's midterm elections" and urged the House to reject a bill he says encourages data centers and the gas plants and pipelines serving them.
- Caution
- Meg Slattery of Earthjustice said data center demand could soak up the new power and that the other provisions fast-track "the worst version of this story."
- Analysts
- Rob Gramlich of Grid Strategies said there is "literally no way" to meet 200 gigawatts of new demand in Texas, and former Senate chief of staff Steve Haro said only the next few weeks remain to pass permitting reform.
Still unverified
Cindy Holscher, the Democrat who received the most votes in last week's gubernatorial election, has not yet been officially declared the winner.