Op-Ed: Rep. Gabe Evans: Protecting ratepayers while powering America’s future

America is entering a new era of unprecedented energy demand.

The AI boom is transforming our economy, and massive data centers are being built across the nation to power this new technology. These facilities require extraordinary amounts of electricity and with that demand comes the need for more power generation, new transmission lines, and other costly upgrades to our current electric grid.

The question plaguing communities across America is simple: Who will pay for it?

My answer to them is just as simple: Not hardworking families or small businesses.

That is why I took action and introduced my bipartisan Ratepayer Protection Act—to put consumers first and shield families and small businesses from increased energy costs associated with the new electricity demands of data centers.

My bill requires that large energy load data centers be 100% responsible for the costs of the new energy infrastructure necessary to serve them. It also requires that states which currently have no standards specific to data center energy demand are to commence hearings and make state-specific determinations for large-load data centers.

My bill protects consumers if one of these massive customers scales back operations or walks away after infrastructure has already been built to accommodate its demand. Families and small businesses should not be left paying for expansions they did not require.

The principle is commonsense: Those creating the new demand should be responsible for the costs associated with meeting that demand.

Many American communities today are seeing that when data center development is done responsibly, American consumers can actually benefit— from lower utility rates to decreasing tax rates, all while keeping their data stored securely here at home, under American laws and protections, rather than in data centers controlled by Communist China.

This issue is only becoming more important as the global race for artificial intelligence accelerates.

Communist China is working every day to outcompete the United States, wage cyberwar, steal American innovation and information, and expand its technological influence around the world. America cannot afford to lose that race.

We need the energy capacity necessary to compete. We need American innovators to continue leading the world. And we need to ensure the United States— not Communist China— defines the future of artificial intelligence.

I know we can win the AI race and protect American consumers at the same time. My Ratepayer Protection Act shows how we can do both.

President Trump has embraced the same principle through his Ratepayer Protection Pledge, which calls on technology companies to secure the new power they need, pay for necessary power-delivery infrastructure, and enter separate rate structures so those costs are not shifted onto existing customers. In fact, his pledge has expanded to include utility companies and even governors from around the country dedicated to the same vision for America.

These principles are welcomed by rural and urban communities alike, and there’s even buy-in from across the aisle.

My Ratepayer Protection Act has earned 42 bipartisan cosponsors and unanimously passed the House Energy and Commerce Committee by a vote of 52-0. It will be considered in front of the whole House of Representatives this week.

America is at an inflection point. The decisions we make today about energy and artificial intelligence will help determine our economic and national security for generations to come.

We should unleash American energy. We should outcompete Communist China. And we must protect hardworking Americans from paying for energy costs they did not cause.

Those goals are not mutually exclusive.

My Ratepayer Protection Act puts American consumers first while ensuring our country has the energy and innovation necessary to compete—and win.

Rep. Gabe Evans represents Colorado’s 8th district.