State legislatures and regulators took several actions over the past month aimed at controlling who pays for the grid infrastructure that large AI data centers require.
Oklahoma enacted the Data Center Consumer Ratepayer Protection Act, which requires large-load AI projects to cover their own infrastructure costs, shielding residential customers from electricity rate increases tied to data center interconnection. A North Carolina House committee advanced a similar bill designed to prevent utilities and ratepayers from absorbing the financial risk of major AI-related infrastructure expansion if projected data center demand fails to materialize.
Virginia, the longtime center of US data center development, issued revised permitting guidance that challenges the assumption that hyperscale backup generators rarely run. The change reflects community concern over emissions as AI-driven load growth strains the regional grid.
The regulatory push responds to real cost pressure. Data center operators added billions of dollars in payments to secure power on major US grids over the past year, and PJM Interconnection, the largest US grid operator serving more than 65 million people across 13 states, projects a six gigawatt shortfall against its reliability requirements in 2027. In Texas, ERCOT has cautioned that some projected demand may never materialize, complicating decisions about which transmission and generation investments to approve.
Source: Data Center Knowledge -- https://www.datacenterknowledge.com/data-center-construction/new-data-center-developments-june-2026#regulatory