US Senate rejects bill targeting AI data centre electricity costs

The United States Senate has thwarted a bill that would have required state regulators to consider forcing data centres and other major electricity users to bear the costs of the infrastructure built to serve them. The measure failed by a vote of 57 to 43 on Wednesday. The proposal needed to pass by at least 60 votes to prevent a filibuster, a procedural hurdle in the Senate that can stymie a bill indefinitely. Only four Democrats — Maggie Hassan, Amy Klobuchar, Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock — joined Republicans to support the bill, which proponents argue would have eased the burden of rising energy costs on individual households.