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The Make Data Centers Pay Act aims to amend the Federal Power Act to ensure that large data centers and high-density computing facilities pay the full incremental costs associated with their electricity use. Specifically, it targets facilities with electric loads of 20 megawatts or more, including those used for artificial intelligence, cloud computing, data hosting, and cryptocurrency mining. The bill defines these facilities and clarifies that only their direct electricity consumption is covered, excluding ancillary computing equipment at other types of commercial or industrial sites.

Under this bill, electric utilities must not allocate the additional costs of serving these large data centers to other customers. Instead, the data centers themselves must bear the full costs of any new power generation, transmission, or distribution infrastructure required to serve their load. Utilities are also required to obtain financial assurances from these facilities before building or upgrading infrastructure to serve them. Existing agreements approved before the bill's enactment remain valid, but new interconnections after enactment must comply with these rules.

This legislation is designed to protect residential and smaller commercial ratepayers from subsidizing the high electricity demands of large data centers, which can strain local power systems and increase costs. By ensuring that data centers pay their fair share, the bill encourages more responsible energy planning and cost allocation. However, it may increase operating costs for data centers, potentially affecting their expansion plans or service prices. The bill preserves state and federal regulatory authority over electric service and rate design, focusing solely on cost allocation for these large electricity users.