Senator Murphy Slams Republican Data Center Bill as 'Scam'

Senator Chris Murphy criticized a Republican-backed data center bill as a "scam" as GOP lawmakers consider a Senate vote on the legislation next week.

Murphy Slams Republican Data Center Bill

On Monday, Murphy wrote on X that the Ratepayer Protection Act, introduced by Senator Jon Husted, "does nothing" because it "does not include a single new mandatory requirement to constrain data centers."

"This is just a scam, an attempt to fool voters into forgetting that Republicans spent their entire term trying to stop states from regulating artificial intelligence," he wrote.

Republicans Push for Senate Vote on Data Center Bill

The remarks come after Burgess Everett reported that Republicans are pushing to keep the Senate in session next week for a roll call vote on Husted's bill.

Husted has said "voters overwhelmingly support the idea that data centers should pay for themselves," arguing the bill would show Republicans are responding to voter concerns.

Democrats have previously opposed the bill. Senator Martin Heinrich called it voluntary and "toothless," while Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called it a "fraud."

By the way, this bill does nothing. It does not include a single new mandatory requirement to constrain data centers.

This is just a scam, an attempt to fool voters into forgetting that Republicans spent their entire term trying to stop states from regulating artificial intelligence.

— Chris Murphy 🟧 September 28, 2026

House Passes Data Center Bill

The House passed the bipartisan Ratepayer Protection Act by a vote of 417 to 3 to prevent Americans from bearing the costs of power infrastructure tied to AI data centers.

The bill would establish a federal standard requiring states to consider rules ensuring that large-load customers like data centers bear the full incremental costs of generation, transmission, and distribution upgrades needed to serve them.

The bill originally required utilities to consider rate structures to recover grid upgrade costs from large-load customers.

AI Data Center Expansion

Last week, Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. unveiled its Tongwan V900 AI chip and plans to expand Alibaba Cloud's global data center capacity to over 20 gigawatts by 2032.

CEO Eddie Wu compared AI growth to the early stages of electrification.

Earlier this month, macro investor Raoul Pal said data center construction is running at only about 30% of the pace needed for the AI race, arguing that U.S.-China competition and infrastructure bottlenecks would drive a massive capital expenditure "supercycle."

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick dismissed concerns about data center water usage, saying "data centers don't use water."

However, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory estimates that U.S. data centers consumed about 66 billion liters of water in 2023, with hyperscale facilities projected to consume up to 124 billion liters annually by 2028.