Rep. Craig Williams (R-Delaware/Chester) has introduced the Pennsylvania Ratepayer Protection Act, a legislative proposal aimed at lowering electricity costs for families and small businesses in the state. The bill comes amid growing energy demand driven by data center construction and increased electrification across various sectors.
Williams noted that large technology companies are entering into long-term contracts with electricity generators, securing significant amounts of existing power supply. This practice, he said, leaves households and small businesses competing for a reduced share of available electricity, which leads to higher prices. “Pennsylvania produces enormous amounts of electricity, but our residents are increasingly competing with massive Big Tech buyers for that power,” Williams stated. “This legislation puts ratepayers on equal footing and protects them from bearing the cost of building new electricity generation and infrastructure required by hyper-scale data centers.”
The proposal follows recent national attention on rising electricity prices and supply issues. Earlier this year, President Biden met with governors from states within the PJM Interconnection region—including Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro—to discuss strategies to address these challenges as artificial intelligence applications and data center projects increase demand for power. That meeting resulted in a joint statement focused on stabilizing regional electricity markets and ensuring sufficient power supply, signed by all 13 participating governors.
Williams emphasized that current state law limits the Public Utility Commission’s (PUC) ability to act without new enabling legislation. “Much of our electricity policy is governed by state law,” he said. “If we want these protections to work for Pennsylvania families, we must codify them in our utility laws.”
The administration also recently secured a Ratepayer Protection Pledge with major technology firms such as META, Google, and X-AI. The pledge requires large data centers to provide their own generation capacity and pay infrastructure costs necessary to connect to the grid instead of passing those expenses onto consumers.
Key elements of the proposed legislation include:
– Codifying the Ratepayer Protection Pledge so that large data centers cover all infrastructure connection costs.
– Requiring hyper-scale data centers to build or support new generation capacity rather than drawing from supplies meant for homes and small businesses.
– Establishing pricing parity by mandating utilities secure long-term purchase agreements on behalf of ratepayers before available supply is contracted out to major tech firms.
Williams concluded: “Pennsylvania has the resources to power the next generation of economic development,” he said. “By requiring companies to pay their own costs, build their own generation and allowing ratepayers to compete for long-term power supply, we can lower electricity prices while keeping Pennsylvania open for business.”
