Congressman Yakym votes to make data centers pay for their own power, not Hoosier families

Thursday, September 17, 2026 at 6:00 PM

Wednesday, Congressman Rudy Yakym (IN-02) voted for the Ratepayer Protection Act, legislation to shield American families from higher energy costs driven by data centers.

The bill makes sure the companies building data centers are the ones paying for the electricity needed to power them, not hardworking Hoosiers.

"Hoosiers and their businesses should not be footing the bill for AI data centers. That's why I voted for the Ratepayer Protection Act today," Rep. Yakym said. "If a local community welcomes one of these projects, large data center operators must pay for the power it uses — not pass the cost to the folks in my district."

Background:

The Ratepayer Protection Act (H.R. 9340):

Protects consumers from rate increases tied to data center construction
Has state utility commissions consider large-load standards for data centers drawing more than 100 MW of power, so they pay the full cost to serve their loads
Preserves state authority over electricity markets, building on what 24 states are already doing to protect homes and small businesses
Codifies the White House's Ratepayer Protection Pledge, signed by Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft, OpenAI, Oracle, xAI, and more than 300 other organizations.

Read the full bill HERE.