October 7th, 2026Heinrich Joins Jake Tapper on CNN To Discuss How Bipartisan American Affordability & Jobs Act Will Hold Data Centers Accountable, Force Data Centers to Pay For Electricity Grid Upgrades

Watch video here ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, appeared on CNN’s The Lead with Jake Tapper today where he discussed his landmark legislation that will hold data centers accountable for the costs they impose on the electricity grid, helping to ensure families and small businesses aren’t stuck footing the bill. Heinrich also discussed reports of a deadly illness at a research facility in Russia. “In the permitting bill, that we just released text on a little over a week ago, we mandate that [data centers] have to pay for both the electricity and for any grid upgrades. And we prohibit passing those costs along to average ratepayers, be those residential customers or small businesses,” said Heinrich. VIDEO: U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, discusses with CNN’s Jake Tapper his landmark legislation that will hold data centers accountable for the costs they impose on the electric grid and reports of a suspected plague exposure at a research facility in Russia, October 7, 2026. On Heinrich’s Bill to Make Data Centers Pay their Fair Share of Grid Costs: Jake Tapper: “Senator, you're also the top Democrat on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. And I don't need to tell you the debate over data centers is huge — especially on your Committee. You're pushing to make data center owners pay for the electricity that their buildings require, and not families who live nearby. How would you do that?” Senator Heinrich: “Well, actually, in the permitting bill, that we just released text on a little over a week ago, we mandate that [data centers] have to pay for both the electricity and for any grid upgrades. And we prohibit passing those costs along to average ratepayers, be those residential customers or small businesses.” For more information on Heinrich’s landmark legislation to require data centers to fully pay for costs they create, click here . On Reports of a Deadly Illness at a Research Facility in Russia: Heinrich: “We have a long history of Russia kind of coloring outside the lines, going all the way back to the Soviet Union. I would be very concerned if this were an engineered pathogen. I don't have any unique information saying that is the case. But if it were the case, that would be cause for alarm. And, you know, one of the things that I think is incredibly important that's related is just the fact that we have a CDC right now in the United States that is sort of running on fumes. Between the Trump administration and the actions of DOGE here a little over a year ago, the CDC is just simply not the agency that it should be for things like surveillance for any kind of international pathogen. And so, I'm not going to add fuel to that fire, but certainly I would be deeply concerned if we were to learn of any sort of engineered pathogen.” “In the short term, what I'd really like to see is a hand-in-glove approach between Russia and the World Health Organization. That would tell us a lot. I want to know what tests were administered to the lab worker. What were the results of those tests? You know, if this were the plague, that would actually assuage a lot of my concerns because we all know how to deal with the plague. We've been dealing with the plague for hundreds of years. Even, even pneumonic plague is something that, because it has a relatively short incubation period, we know precisely how to intervene. If it's something else, then that, that is the concern that I think a lot of people are expressing.” ###