DATA Act of 2026
Senate Bill Would Exempt New Islanded Electric Utilities From Federal Oversight Rules
Legislative Progress
Key Points
- Creates a new kind of electric utility that serves only “new” power users and must be physically separated from the wider power grid.
- Says these new, grid-isolated utilities would not face key federal rules on rates, reliability, planning, and mergers that apply to most utilities.
- Also exempts them from federal energy oversight by the main federal power regulator and the Energy Department, as long as they stay disconnected.
- If one of these utilities later connects to the larger grid (even for backup power), it would immediately lose the exemption and be regulated like other utilities.
- Lets these utilities build power lines and related equipment in existing public rights-of-way, with permit review limited mostly to repair plans and storm response.
Impact Analysis
Personal Impact
How this policy affects specific groups of people
Milestones
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
Sent to a congressional committee for expert review. The committee decides whether this bill moves forward.
Introduced in Senate
The bill was officially filed and given a number. It now enters the legislative queue.
Votes
No votes have been recorded for this legislation yet.
Related News
2 articles
Sen. Cotton Pushes Off-Grid Power Plan for AI Data Centers
The DATA Act of 2026 aims to let AI data center companies bypass federal electricity regulations by building independent energy infrastructure. The bill creates a new utility category for systems completely disconnected from the main grid, exempting them from the Federal Power Act.
Data centers use lots of electricity. This bill would let them go off the grid.
The DATA Act would cut through federal red tape by allowing private companies to build enclosed power systems. By staying off the grid, these utilities would avoid decade-long transmission approvals and interconnection queues that currently constrain AI infrastructure development.
Source Information
Document Type
Congressional Bill
Official Title
DATA Act of 2026
Data Sources
Sponsor
Analysis generated by AI. Always verify with official sources.