Republican Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley is pushing for a nationwide data center moratorium a week after his party’s midterm drubbing.
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Hawley → push → drubbing
Hawley listed a moratorium on data centers among five things he wants Senate Republicans to get done over the next six weeks, he wrote on X on Wednesday.
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he → list → Wednesday
He is the first Republican senator to back a nationwide moratorium, The Hill reported.
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Hill → back → moratorium
The senator wants the federal moratorium to last until Congress passes protections that guarantee taxpayers no rate increases, a Hawley spokesperson said in a statement to the Daily Caller News Foundation.
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spokesperson → want → Foundation
“Senate Republicans trying to figure out what to do in the next 6 weeks?” Hawley asked in the post.
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Hawley → try → post
The rest of his list called for defunding Planned Parenthood, suspending the gas tax, funding rural hospitals and passing the SAVE America Act.
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rest → call → Act
(RELATED: Data Centers Have Brutal Election Night)
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Centers → have → Night
Democrats won the Senate and the House on Nov. 3, in a decisive fashion that many have dubbed a “blue tsunami.”
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many → win → that
As of Thursday afternoon, NBC News has projected that the party has won at least 55 Senate seats, including an upset win in the deep red state of Mississippi.
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party → project → Mississippi
The Alaska race remained uncalled as Democrat Mary Peltola led in the raw vote count heading into ranked-choice voting tabulation.
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Peltola → remain → tabulation
NBC News’ exit polls asked voters how concerned they were about utility costs.
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they → ask → costs
Fifty-three percent said they were very concerned, and Democrats won those voters 66 percent to 32 percent.
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Democrats → say → percent
The same poll asked whether voters would favor or oppose building a data center where they live.
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they → ask → center
Seventy-six percent were opposed, and Democrats won that group 64 percent to 34 percent.
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Democrats → oppose → percent
CBS News’ exit polling found most voters who called themselves Republicans also opposed having a data center nearby.
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who → find → center
Most of them still voted for GOP candidates.
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Most → vote → candidates
Fifty-seven percent of voters also said artificial intelligence will “do more to hurt society,” the NBC poll found.
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poll → say → society
The Nov. 3 results and exit polls “sent a clear message: Americans reject data centers in their communities, especially if they bring higher electricity bills,” Travis Fisher, director of energy and environmental policy studies at the libertarian Cato Institute, said in a Nov. 5 statement to the DCNF.
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Fisher → send → DCNF
“However, data center bans are a blunt instrument that would reduce upward pressure on utility bills but crush economic growth,” Fisher said.
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Fisher → reduce → growth
Alex Stevens, manager of policy and communications at the free-market Institute for Energy Research, blamed state policies that favor wind and solar power.
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that → blame → wind
“The real culprit behind rising utility bills is the massive transmission expense required to connect far-flung, taxpayer-subsidized projects,” Stevens told the DCNF in a statement.
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Stevens → rise → statement
“Policymakers should advance policies that let data centers supply their own power, while cutting regulatory red tape to make it easier to build that new generation,” Stevens said.
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Stevens → advance → generation
“Data Centers Done Right must be the new Republican chant,” Stuart Turley, president and CEO of Sandstone Group and host of the Energy News Beat podcast, said in a statement to the DCNF.
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Turley → do → DCNF
Republicans need “a plan that can install data centers not in neighborhoods, not on farmland,” Turley said.
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Turley → need → farmland
The Pew Research Center surveyed 10,548 U.S. adults between July 20 and Aug. 9.
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Center → survey → July
Sixty percent said they would be uncomfortable with a data center opening near them, including 54 percent of Republicans and 68 percent of Democrats, counting those who lean toward each party.
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who → say → party
Half said the facilities mostly hurt what they pay for energy at home, up from 38 percent in January, Pew found.
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Pew → say → January
In February, Hawley and Democratic Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal introduced a bill that would make new data centers get their power from sources separate from the grid, Hawley’s office announced.
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office → introduce → grid
President Donald Trump has said he “never want[s] Americans to pay higher Electricity bills because of Data Centers,” the release noted.
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release → say → Centers
Congress.gov shows no movement on the bill, S. 3852, since the day it was introduced and sent to the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.
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it → show → Committee
Republican Kansas Sen. Roger Marshall joined Blumenthal as a cosponsor in August.
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Marshall → join → August
Hawley called for a similar pause in June, saying the Senate should “absolutely” act on the Ratepayer Protection Act, adding that “there shouldn’t be any more data center development until it’s done,” E&E News reported.
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News → call → Act
Republican Ohio Sen. Jon Husted led the Senate push for the Ratepayer Protection Act, which passed the House 417-3 on Sept. 16.
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which → lead → Sept.
It would have states weigh rules that put the added electricity costs of data centers on the tech companies that run them.
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that → have → them
Senate Democrats blocked it Sept. 30 in a 57-43 procedural vote, The Hill reported.
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Hill → block → vote
The Aporia
