Policy and communities · NEWS BRIEF

Senate permitting bill would assign data centers their transmission costs

Published Oct 11, 2026
Source: U.S. Senate announcement · Oct 2, 2026

What happened

The proposed Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act of 2026 combines faster energy-project permitting with a requirement that data centers pay their associated transmission costs instead of shifting those costs to other electricity customers.

A cost rule inside a much larger permitting bill

Senator Martin Heinrich's office describes the bipartisan proposal as an energy-permitting package rather than a stand-alone data-center law. Its data-center provision would require those facilities to pay all associated transmission costs. The stated aim is to prevent grid-expansion costs created by large new loads from being recovered from households and small businesses.

Transmission costs can include the high-voltage lines and upgrades needed to move electricity to a new load, as well as the customer's allocated share of the wider network. The unresolved questions are how to divide costs, treat projects already in development and separate data-center costs from upgrades serving many users. Those implementation details would determine who ultimately pays and how much.

The bill would also change how grid projects are approved

The proposal would strengthen the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's backstop authority over major interstate transmission lines and allow federal processing to run alongside state reviews. It would also require regional and interregional transmission planning to account for future demand, promote grid-enhancing technologies and open wholesale markets further to distributed generation and virtual power plants.

Beyond the grid, the package proposes a two-year deadline for environmental impact statements and a one-year deadline for environmental assessments. It would create a parallel historic-preservation consultation process, set a 150-day deadline for certain legal challenges and narrow some circumstances in which courts could pause projects.

What is decided—and what is not

Nothing in the announcement changes current data-center rates or approves a transmission line. This is proposed federal legislation. Heinrich said Senate floor debate was expected later in November, and the text could be amended before any vote. It would still need approval by Congress and the president before taking effect.

The most important next evidence will be the language that survives floor debate, especially the definition of covered data centers, the method for assigning transmission costs and the roles of FERC, regional grid operators, states and utilities. Until then, the proposal signals a bipartisan effort to pair faster infrastructure approvals with mandatory cost responsibility for large computing loads, rather than an operating rule.

Why it matters

The proposal links two parts of the AI-power problem: who pays for grid expansion and how quickly new lines and generation can be approved. Its practical effect depends on the final statutory language, Senate amendments and passage by both chambers.

Understand the infrastructure

Read the related Grid & Silicon explainer →

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