U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich introduced the GRID Savings Act on Aug. 3, aiming to ensure that large new electricity users are responsible for paying for grid upgrades needed to support their operations, rather than shifting these costs onto families and small businesses. The legislation is designed to apply the same rules that have governed new power plants for two decades to emerging high-demand sectors such as hyperscalers and AI data centers.
“If a company is driving the need for expensive new facilities, that company should pay for it — not families and small businesses. That’s the basic principle behind my GRID Savings Act,” said Heinrich. “Electricity demand is growing, driven in large part by hyperscalers, AI data centers, and other large new electricity users. These companies have promised to protect customers from paying for their energy usage, and my GRID Savings Act gives teeth to that commitment by requiring large load customers to pay for the facilities needed to connect them to the grid, while incentivizing hyperscalers to fund transmission-level upgrades. We need to make sure America can meet growing electricity demand without forcing working families and small businesses to fully subsidize the infrastructure required by the nation’s biggest energy users.”
The act requires the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to set clear rules outlining what upgrades are necessary when very large new electricity users connect with the grid, specifying who will be responsible for costs and how those costs will be determined. The bill also allows these companies an option: they may voluntarily fund certain transmission facilities in exchange for receiving transmission service.
Heinrich has a long record of advocating expansion and modernization of America’s electric grid through legislative efforts such as shepherding SunZia—one of North America’s largest energy infrastructure projects—through lengthy permitting processes until its recent completion in New Mexico. He has introduced or supported related legislation including measures aimed at speeding up interconnection processes, reforming permitting timelines, strengthening planning across regions, investing in local communities hosting transmission infrastructure projects, supporting geothermal energy development on public lands alongside oil and gas projects, and facilitating coordination between federal agencies.
Earlier this year, Heinrich launched his Grid for Growth initiative after introducing a bill focused on reducing congestion by streamlining connections of new energy projects with existing grids. He has also called attention during Senate hearings about expanding interregional transmission capacity as essential both for reliability improvements and lowering consumer costs amid rising national demand.