Senate Dems Reject Bill to Shield Voters from Data Center Power Price Hikes
A new political fight is heating up in Washington over who should pay when big tech companies use massive amounts of electricity. Senator Jon Husted from Ohio is pointing fingers at Senate Democrats, saying they stopped a bill that could have kept electric bills lower for regular families.
Husted told a news outlet that he helped write the Ratepayer Protection Act months ago, working closely with former President Donald Trump. The idea behind the bill is simple: make data centers cover the full cost of the power they use instead of passing those expenses onto everyday customers.
He said the House already backed the plan with a vote of 417 to 3, including support from both parties. That means even top Democrats like Hakeem Jeffries and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez were on board. But when it reached the Senate, things stalled.
According to Husted, Senate Democrats didn't actually vote against it. They just refused to let it move forward. He thinks they did this on purpose to avoid giving Republicans a win on cost-of-living issues before the upcoming midterm elections.
Husted claims most people agree this is a common-sense fix. He says polls show strong support, around 90%, for making companies pay their fair share. But he believes party politics got in the way.
As the race for Ohio's Senate seat heats up, Husted is running against former Senator Sherrod Brown. He recently held campaign events in Dayton and Youngstown, where he says crowds turned out in large numbers. He even brought in former NFL coach John Gruden to help rally support.
Husted also pointed to early voting numbers, saying Democrats started strong but Republicans have been gaining ground each day since. He believes this trend shows growing excitement for his campaign.
On the economic front, Husted praised Trump-era policies for bringing factory jobs back to Ohio. He says the state added 10,000 manufacturing jobs in the past year and a half, especially in steel, pharmaceuticals, and computer chips. Unemployment is at 3.3%, which he calls historic low.
He also criticized Brown's past votes, saying support for the Green New Deal helped Chinese solar panel makers while hurting American companies like First Solar, which is based in Ohio. Husted argues that protecting domestic industry matters more than ever.
Looking ahead to November, Husted says winning comes down to one thing: getting Republicans who voted before to show up again. He's confident that if turnout stays high, his campaign will come out on top.