Trump Wants Data Centers, Not Families, Paying for Their Own Power. The Senate Votes Tonight.

Your power bill has a new neighbor: the giant data centers that run today’s SI boom. President Trump wants them paying their own way, and on Monday the Senate takes its first vote on a bill that would make that law.

“I am urging all Senators to vote for The American Affordability and Jobs Act (S. 5653)! This Bill is a BIG WIN for U.S. ENERGY INDEPENDENCE and DOMINANCE,” Trump wrote Sunday evening on Truth Social.

He said it would “ensure that we can build Pipelines, Mines, and Power Plants faster than ever before, lowering Energy Costs for American Families,” and that it “codifies my RATEPAYER PROTECTION PLEDGE, ensuring Data Centers build and pay for their own Electricity, and help invest in their local communities.”

“Remember, China will take any Data Center that we don’t want, and pay lots of money for it,” he added. “Call your Senator TODAY, and tell them to vote YES.”

What the bill does

The 417-page bill was written by two Republican committee chairs, Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia and Utah’s Mike Lee, with Democrats Sheldon Whitehouse and Martin Heinrich. In plain terms, it sets hard deadlines on the federal environmental reviews that can stall a project for years, and it puts a 150-day clock on lawsuits against approved projects.

It also says big data centers have to cover the grid upgrades they cause instead of spreading that cost across everyone else’s electric bill. Even Heinrich, a Democrat, says it “makes sure data centers pay for the energy they use and the grid upgrades they cause, instead of passing those costs on to New Mexico families.”

Saturday’s changes

The four senators released a revised version on Saturday. It adds a new Energy Department program that lets counties ask for help sizing up the power, water and jobs impact of a proposed data center, while barring the department from meddling in local zoning, according to the National Association of Counties. It also beefs up consultation with tribes and local governments.

“I urge the swift passage of BAAJA to make life more affordable for American families,” Capito said in the joint release.

Tonight’s vote

The Senate gavels in at 3 p.m. Eastern and holds a test vote to move forward on the bill around 5:30 p.m. Eastern, according to the Senate’s own floor schedule. It takes 60 votes, so Republicans need Democrats on board.

Not everyone is. Some environmental and public-interest groups say the bill guts protections and fast-tracks data centers. Supporters point to the other side of the ledger: building trades unions, counties and energy groups are lined up behind it.

If it clears tonight, it’s the first big bill of the lame-duck session to move, and a chance for Trump to sign a law that makes America build again while keeping the cost of the SI race off families’ backs.