The US House advances the Ratepayer Protection Act, aimed at preventing data center-related utility costs from being passed on to consumers, by a vote of 417-3 (Justin Papp/CNBC)

The US House of Representatives has passed the Ratepayer Protection Act by a vote of 417-3. The bill aims to prevent data center-related utility costs from being passed on to consumers. It requires state utility regulators to consider whether large electricity users, including data centers, should bear the incremental costs of power infrastructure built to serve them.

According to CBS News, the bill was introduced by GOP Rep. Gabe Evans of Colorado and seeks to force tech companies to pay for the costs of new energy infrastructure that serves the data centers, instead of passing costs on to consumers. The bill would encourage state agencies that regulate utility companies to establish standards ensuring large-load customers, including large-scale data centers, are billed for the cost of new electricity generation.

The bill now heads to the Senate. Investing.com reports that the vote underscores the complicated politics surrounding the US data center boom, with lawmakers from both parties facing growing constituent concerns over rising electricity costs associated with the industry's surging power demand.

Brief written by urgent.news from Techmeme, CBS News, Investing.com, The Hill — 4 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.