Congressman Riley M. Moore Cosponsors Legislation to Protect Ratepayers from Data Center Costs

August 31, 2026 Press Release Washington, D.C. – Congressman Riley M. Moore announced that he is cosponsoring the Ratepayer Protection Act, today. The legislation, introduced by Congressman Gabe Evans (R-CO), would ensure that data centers — not American families, small businesses, and other ratepayers — are responsible for the costs of the additional electricity infrastructure their operations require. Congressman Riley M. Moore released the following statement: “West Virginia families and American taxpayers should not be forced to foot the bill for massive data centers, and the enormous potential demands they place on our power grid. The Ratepayer Protection Act preserves state and local control over data center projects while ensuring that hardworking Americans are not asked to pay for hundreds of millions of dollars in new generation, transmission, or distribution infrastructure costs. That cost should always be on the companies.” This legislation would amend the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (PURPA) to require state public utility commissions to consider standards ensuring that large data centers pay the full incremental costs associated with generation, transmission, and distribution upgrades needed to serve their electricity demand. As data centers and artificial intelligence infrastructure continue to expand their demand for electricity, Congressman Moore believes Americans should not be forced to subsidize the infrastructure required to power these facilities. This bill would establish guardrails to protect ratepayers while preserving the authority of state regulators to determine how these standards are implemented. Congressman Moore has consistently advocated for an affordable, reliable, and abundant American energy supply and for policies that protect West Virginia ratepayers from being burdened with costs created by large-scale industrial projects. ### Issues : Congress Serving West Virginia