Senate Bill Would Make Data Centers Pay for Grid Upgrades. Northern Virginia Has the Most at Stake.

A bipartisan Senate bill making the rounds this month would force data centers to pay for the power lines and grid upgrades they need, instead of spreading those costs across everyone else's electric bills. Few places have more riding on that idea than the Washington region.

The Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act of 2026 was introduced Sept. 30 by Sens. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Mike Lee (R-Utah), Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.). It is mainly a permitting overhaul meant to speed up federal approval of energy and infrastructure projects. But the provision getting the most attention is about data centers.

What the bill would do

According to Heinrich's office, the bill "forces data centers to pay their fair share by requiring them to pay for all of their associated transmission costs." On CNN on Oct. 7, Heinrich put it more bluntly: "we mandate that [data centers] have to pay for both the electricity and for any grid upgrades," and "we prohibit passing those costs along to average ratepayers, be those residential customers or small businesses."

In an Oct. 14 release from the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, where Heinrich is the ranking Democrat, his office said the bill would make data centers "fully pay for their grid upgrades, as well as their share of the existing grid."

The broader bill also aims to give approved energy and infrastructure projects more certainty that their permits will hold, absent extraordinary circumstances, violations of law or a court order. Heinrich argues faster permitting is the main lever on energy prices right now. "It's the one thing that can bring down the pressure on the cost of electricity and energy right now," he told New Mexicans this week.

Why it matters here

Northern Virginia sits at the center of the data center boom. The U.S. Energy Information Administration said in May that PJM's Dominion zone, which covers Virginia, has "the largest concentration of data centers in the world." Virginia's commercial electricity sales rose by nearly 30 million megawatt-hours between 2019 and 2025, the agency found, and summer peak demand in the Dominion zone reached 23,905 megawatts in 2025, 23% higher than in 2019.

That growth has to be served by new transmission lines and power plants, and who pays for them has become one of the region's biggest utility fights. Virginia, Maryland and D.C. are all part of the PJM grid, so decisions about how data center costs are allocated can show up on bills well beyond Loudoun County.

Capito's home state of West Virginia is in PJM as well, one reason the data center language has drawn support from both parties.

What happens next

The bill is not law. It still needs to pass the Senate and the House, and its language could change along the way. Washington DC Magazine will follow how the data center provisions fare and what they could mean for electric bills in Virginia, Maryland and the District.

Sources: Sen. Heinrich's Sept. 30 release, Heinrich's Oct. 7 CNN release, the Senate Energy Committee's Oct. 14 release and the U.S. Energy Information Administration.