更新于：2026年9月16日 / 美国东部时间下午7:13 / 哥伦比亚广播公司新闻
作者：凯特琳·伊莱克 政治记者
凯特琳·伊莱克是哥伦比亚广播公司新闻网驻华盛顿特区的政治记者。她曾就职于《华盛顿考察家报》和《国会山报》，并入选2022年美国国家新闻基金会保罗·米勒华盛顿报道奖学金项目。
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华盛顿讯 —— 众议院周三以压倒性优势通过一项法案，旨在保护美国人无需承担数据中心可能给他们电费账单带来的额外成本。
这项两党支持的《纳税人保护法案》以417票对3票在众议院获得通过。众议院共和党领导层加速推进该法案，此次投票需要三分之二多数支持才能通过。法案现已提交参议院。
此次法案通过之际，议员们正面临解决飙升的能源成本的压力，而部分能源成本上涨被归因于人工智能竞赛推动的数据中心热潮。
该法案由科罗拉多州共和党众议员加布·埃文斯提出，他目前正在一场竞争激烈的国会选区竞选中连任。近期几周，多名面临艰难连任挑战的共和党议员联名支持该法案，因为民生负担和人工智能问题是2026年竞选的核心议题。
埃文斯的这项法案旨在迫使科技公司承担服务数据中心的新能源基础设施成本，而非将成本转嫁给消费者。该法案将鼓励监管公用事业公司的州级机构制定标准，确保包括大型数据中心在内的“大负荷用户”为新增电力发电成本买单。
“人工智能公司肩负着重大责任，要赢得所投资社区的信任，当好邻里。《纳税人保护法案》确保勤劳的美国家庭不会为人工智能基础设施建设买单，也不会因这类建设推高能源成本，”众议院议长、路易斯安那州共和党议员迈克·约翰逊于周三晚间在一份声明中表示。
随着数据中心行业的增长速度超过美国的电力供应能力，人们对数据中心可能给电网带来的压力的担忧日益加剧。国际能源署去年估计，到本十年末，美国数据中心的电力消耗量可能比2024年水平翻一番以上。其他估算则显示，到2030年，数据中心的电力消耗可能占到美国电力需求的10%以上。
这些担忧促使各州和地方层面出现反对数据中心开发的声浪，也给两党在全国范围内带来了政治麻烦，进一步加剧了人工智能热潮背后更广泛的政治不确定性。
此前总体支持人工智能产业的特朗普总统，已呼吁数据中心开发商和科技公司签署一项承诺，自行建设或采购电力供应。白宫表示，已有数百家公用事业公司、数十家数据中心运营商和主要人工智能公司签署了这项承诺。
众议院少数党领袖、纽约州民主党议员哈基姆·杰弗里斯周一称该法案是“向前迈出的一步”，但表示“还需要采取更明确的行动”。
众议院能源与商务委员会主席、肯塔基州共和党众议员布雷特·格思里周二表示，该法案“代表我们的选民采取了行动，我们可以在保持成本低廉的同时，确保美国在下一代经济中占据领先地位”。
“随着该行业持续发展，我要明确一点：我们需要它在美国本土发展，而不是流向中国，”格思里在议会辩论期间说道。
该委员会资深成员、新泽西州民主党众议员弗兰克·帕隆称该法案“并不完善”，并认为它“仅解决了问题的一小部分”。
“全美各地的美国人都对数据中心和人工智能不受约束的发展感到愤怒。他们对这种发展对自己社区、工作乃至生活的影响感到愤怒。我想承诺，这项法案并非我们关注这些问题的终点，而只是开始，”帕隆在议会上说道。
House passes bill to shield Americans from data center energy costs
Updated on: September 16, 2026 / 7:13 PM EDT / CBS News
By Caitlin Yilek Politics Reporter
Caitlin Yilek is a politics reporter at CBSNews.com, based in Washington, D.C. She previously worked for the Washington Examiner and The Hill, and was a member of the 2022 Paul Miller Washington Reporting Fellowship with the National Press Foundation.
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Washington — The House on Wednesday overwhelmingly passed legislation aimed at protecting Americans from shouldering the potential costs of data centers on their electricity bills.
The bipartisan Ratepayer Protection Act cleared the House in a 417 to 3 vote. House GOP leaders fast-tracked the bill, which required two-thirds majority support for passage. It now heads to the Senate.
Its passage comes as lawmakers are under pressure to address soaring energy costs that have been partly attributed to the data center boom driven by the AI race.
The bill was introduced by GOP Rep. Gabe Evans of Colorado, who is running in a competitive race. Several Republicans facing tough reelection bids signed on as cosponsors in recent weeks, as affordability and AI issues are central themes in the 2026 campaign.
Evans’ measure seeks to force tech companies to pay for the costs of the new energy infrastructure that serves the data centers, instead of passing costs on to consumers. It would encourage the state agencies that regulate utility companies to establish standards ensuring any “large-load customers” — including large-scale data centers — are billed for the cost of new electricity generation.
“AI companies have a serious responsibility to earn the trust of the communities they invest in and to be good neighbors. The Ratepayer Protection Act guarantees hardworking American families won’t foot the bill for the buildout of AI infrastructure — or see their energy costs rise to pay for it,” House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, said in a statement Wednesday night.
As the data center industry grows at a faster clip than the U.S.’ capacity to generate electricity, fears have mounted about the pressure it could put on the power grid. The International Energy Agency estimated last year that electricity consumption by U.S. data centers could more than double from 2024 levels by the end of the decade. Other estimates have found the facilities could gobble up more than 10% of U.S. power demand by 2030.
Those worries have prompted backlash against data center development at the state and local level and political headaches for both parties nationally — adding to broader political uncertainty about the AI boom.
President Trump, who has largely backed the AI industry, has urged data center developers and tech firms to sign a pledge to build or purchase their own power supply. The White House says hundreds of utility companies have signed on to the pledge, along with dozens of data center operators and major AI companies.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, a New York Democrat, on Monday called the legislation “a step forward” but said “more clearly needs to be done.”
GOP Rep. Brett Guthrie of Kentucky, the chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, said Tuesday that the legislation “takes action on behalf of our constituents so we may keep costs low while ensuring the U.S. leads in the next-generation economy.”
“As this industry continues to develop, I want to be absolutely clear that we need it to develop here at home and not in China,” Guthrie said during floor debate.
Democratic Rep. Frank Pallone of New Jersey, the committee’s ranking member, called the legislation “imperfect” and argued it “only addresses one small part of the puzzle.”
“Americans across the country are furious about the unchecked development of data centers and artificial intelligence. Furious about what it means for their communities, for their jobs, or even for their lives. And I want to promise that this bill is not the end of our focus on these issues. It’s only the beginning,” Pallone said on the floor.
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