Core Viewpoint - Senator Josh Hawley is advocating for a new bill that mandates data centers to self-supply their electricity when constructing new high-energy facilities, aiming to prevent cost transfer to consumers and protect households from rising electricity prices [1] Group 1: Legislative Proposal - The proposed legislation directly addresses the core issue of the U.S. electricity market, where large data centers consume power far exceeding the current grid capacity, leading to significant price increases for local residents [1] - The bill requires new data centers to implement a "behind-the-meter" power supply arrangement, meaning they must generate their own power and cannot pass energy costs onto consumers [1][2] - This legislative move could fundamentally alter the investment and operational models of the U.S. data center industry, especially as demand for AI and cloud computing surges [1] Group 2: Power Supply Models - The core demand from lawmakers is to establish a responsibility mechanism of "who uses electricity, who generates electricity" [2] - The "behind-the-meter" model is seen as a direct way to alleviate taxpayer burdens by physically isolating corporate electricity use from residential use, ensuring that data centers' energy consumption does not strain existing grid resources [2] - An alternative "front-of-the-meter" model allows data centers to self-generate power while still utilizing the local grid for transmission, which could shorten the operational timeline for facilities [3] Group 3: Market Context - The legislative initiative arises amid growing resistance to new data centers across the U.S., with increasing studies linking electricity price surges to data center construction [4] - The root of the problem lies in the mismatch between supply and demand, where a gigawatt-scale data center can consume power that far exceeds the grid's capacity, leading to local power shortages and price hikes [4] - Lawmakers aim to resolve the supply-demand imbalance by mandating data centers to either self-generate power or fund grid upgrades, ending the reliance on public grid resources that inflate residential electricity prices [4]
谁用电谁发电!美国拟立法终结数据中心“蹭电”时代,严禁推高民用电价
Hua Er Jie Jian Wen·2026-02-06 08:40