[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 10139 Introduced in House (IH)]
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119th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 10139
To require public disclosure of electricity and water use,
infrastructure costs, rate impacts, public financial assistance, and
related commitments associated with large data centers, and for other
purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
August 24, 2026
Mr. Cuellar introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on
Education and Workforce, for a period to be subsequently determined by
the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall
within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To require public disclosure of electricity and water use,
infrastructure costs, rate impacts, public financial assistance, and
related commitments associated with large data centers, and for other
purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Ratepayer Bill of Rights Act of
2026''.
SEC. 2. RATEPAYER BILL OF RIGHTS.
(a) Findings.--
(1) Data centers are driving rapidly growing demand for
electricity and water, often with costs and impacts that are
not disclosed to the families, farmers, ranchers, small
businesses, and communities that bear them. This Act requires
data centers to disclose their resource use, protects reliable
and affordable electric and water service, and ensures that
data centers pay their own costs.
(2) This Act applies to a data center, or related group of
data centers under common ownership or control, with a peak
electricity demand of at least 50 megawatts or a water
withdrawal of at least 100,000 gallons per day, including
expansions that reach those levels.
(b) Rights.--
(1) Right one: to know a data center's demands.--Every
ratepayer has the right to know a covered data center's
projected and actual electricity and water use, sources, and
wastewater discharge, disclosed before operations begin,
reported every six months for electricity and every three
months for water, with prompt notice of any material change.
(2) Right two: to know the agreements, infrastructure
costs, rate effects, and public support.--Every ratepayer has
the right to know what infrastructure will be built to serve a
covered data center, its cost, who is paying for it, its effect
on bills for households, farms, and small businesses, and what
public assistance, permits, and agreements the company
received, published in plain language before final approval.
(3) Right three: not to pay a data center's costs.--
Protected ratepayers - including but not limited to households,
farmers, ranchers, small businesses, schools, and hospitals -
have the right not to subsidize a covered data center. The
company must pay all project-driven costs, sign a binding cost-
recovery agreement, and post adequate financial security before
construction begins. No project-driven cost may be shifted to
ratepayers through rates, riders, or surcharges, and any
improper charge must be refunded with interest within 90 days.
(4) Right four: to reliable and affordable community
water.--Before a covered data center receives a final water-
service commitment, an independent assessment must confirm that
sufficient water will remain for households, agriculture, and
existing businesses, including during a drought. The company
pays all project-driven water costs, and a data center may not
receive priority over households, hospitals, or schools during
a water emergency.
(5) Right five: to protection of rural water, aquifers, and
agriculture.--Private wells, rural water systems, farmers, and
ranchers have the right to monitoring, notice, and fair
compensation if a covered data center harms their water supply.
A data center may not draw from an already-overdrawn aquifer
without an independent assessment showing no further harm, and
must fund enforceable conservation measures tied to its water
use.
(6) Right six: to reliable electricity and disclosure of
on-site power and emissions.--Before a covered data center
receives a final electric-service commitment, an independent
assessment must confirm it can be served without materially
reducing reliability for existing customers. Communities have
the right to know the capacity, fuel source, and emissions of
any on-site power generation, which may not be used to dodge
cost, reliability, or emissions requirements.
(7) Right seven: to advance notice, local information, and
a public voice.--Affected residents and ratepayers have the
right to at least 60 days' notice and a local public meeting
before a final decision, with cost, water, and reliability
studies available at least 30 days in advance, in plain
language and in English and Spanish where required. Public
officials and their families involved in these decisions must
disclose relevant financial interests in the project.
(8) Right eight: to public information that cannot be
hidden by contract.--No contract or confidentiality claim may
block disclosure of information this Act requires to be public.
Aggregate electricity and water use, costs, public assistance,
and emissions may not be withheld as trade secrets, and must be
posted to a searchable public database within 30 days.
(9) Right nine: to protection against loopholes and
evasion.--A company may not use separate entities, meters,
tenants, parcels, or project phases to evade this Act. Related
or affiliated projects that share infrastructure or are
developed together are treated as one project for coverage, and
a material expansion of an existing data center reopens its
cost, water, and reliability review.
(10) Right ten: to enforcement, refunds, and
accountability.--Ratepayers have the right to a simple
complaint process, and Federal and State regulators may audit
compliance, order refunds, and assess civil penalties for
violations. Employees who report violations are protected from
retaliation, and Federal agencies must publish an annual public
accounting of complaints, penalties, and refunds.
(c) Administration.--The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the
Department of Energy, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the
Department of Labor shall each issue rules and enforce this Act within
their existing jurisdictions over transmission and reliability, energy
data, environmental and water-quality requirements, and worker
retaliation protections, respectively. State, Tribal, and local
authorities retain their existing jurisdiction over utility rates,
water rights, land use, and permitting, and nothing in this Act stops
them from adopting stronger protections.
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