A bipartisan group of senators is nearing an energy-infrastructure permitting reform agreement as the rapid expansion of U.S. data centers drives up electricity-system costs. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee leaders have expressed optimism about completing a package before the chamber’s planned October 2 recess. Recent PJM auctions recorded more than $21 billion in data center-related capacity costs across 13 states and Washington, D.C. Without policy changes, household electricity bills in affected areas could rise by an estimated $70 per month by 2028, while data center-driven capacity costs could exceed $163 billion by 2033. Hyperscale data centers, which require more than 100 megawatts, have expanded rapidly to support artificial-intelligence workloads, with Virginia at the center of the buildout. The House passed the Ratepayer Protection Act to require large data center operators to pay for grid upgrades their facilities require, but Senator Martin Heinrich blocked the measure in the Senate on September 17, saying it did not go far enough. Heinrich has advocated stricter federal requirements for data center energy use, while the bill does not include efficiency standards or consumption caps. The GRID Act and GRID Savings Act are among alternative proposals under consideration. States, including Virginia, are pursuing their own responses through construction moratoria and revised electricity-rate structures. The negotiations link two issues: determining who pays for grid upgrades and reducing delays that can leave transmission lines, power plants and renewable-energy projects waiting a decade or more for approval. Addressing only one side could leave ratepayers funding faster expansion or data centers paying more while still waiting for new power capacity.