This bill, titled the "Power for the People Act of 2026," addresses the increasing electricity consumption by data centers, which is projected to significantly strain the electric grid and raise costs for other ratepayers. Congress finds that current energy policies often lead to households and businesses subsidizing data center development, necessitating increased Federal oversight to ensure grid reliability and affordability.

The legislation mandates the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to establish rules for data center load queues within 180 days. These queues will prioritize data centers that implement strategies to offset their electricity demand, such as bringing new, low- or no-carbon supply resources to the grid, incorporating low- or no-carbon backup generation, and adhering to specific labor standards including prevailing wages, registered apprenticeships, and labor peace agreements. Interconnection for data centers may be delayed or denied if it adversely affects grid reliability, affordability for non-data center users, or organic load growth.

Furthermore, FERC is directed to require public utilities to file tariff amendments that allocate local transmission upgrade costs directly to interconnecting data centers, ensuring these specific costs are not borne by other ratepayers. Data centers will pay transmission rates reflecting the embedded cost of the integrated grid, excluding these allocated upgrade costs.

The bill also amends the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (PURPA) to require states to consider establishing data center-specific rate classes. These rate classes are intended to ensure that data center owners and operators cover the full cost of generation, transmission, and distribution upgrades necessary to serve them. States must commence consideration within one year and complete it within two years of the bill's enactment.

Key requirements for these rate classes include:

minimum demand charges based on requested peak electricity demand
extended minimum utility contract lengths
increased upfront interconnection study costs, deposits, or collateral requirements
permissible 'load ramp' periods for gradual power demand increases
'clean transition tariffs' to support novel zero-emissions energy technologies
the use of contribution in aid of construction (CIAC) for utility investments.

The Secretary of Energy will provide grants and technical assistance to states for creating these appropriate rate classes and for improving forecasting of data center load projections. FERC will also establish transparency and disclosure requirements for data center interconnection requests to enhance forecasting and reduce speculative requests.