“他们说他们支持更高的可负担性，”陷入困境的共和党参议员乔恩·休斯德说。“这是一个让每个人都证明这一点的机会。”参议院民主党人很快就得决定，在中期选举前几周，是否要给他们最脆弱的共和党同事之一一个巨大的政治恩惠。
“They say they’re for more affordability,” embattled GOP Sen. Jon Husted said. “This is a chance for everybody to prove it.” Senate Democrats will soon have to decide whether to do one of their most vulnerable Republican colleagues a big political favor just weeks before the midterm elections.
共和党领袖预计将在下周安排对《用电者保护法案》进行投票，该立法旨在遏制与数据中心相关的能源价格。该法案上周在众议院以206张民主党选票轻松通过，但由于竞选季的政治因素，它在国会另一端的通过之路更加艰难。
Republican leaders are expected to set up a vote next week on the Ratepayer Protection Act, legislation that aims to curb energy prices associated with the data centers. It easily passed the House last week with 206 Democratic votes, but it faces a tougher path to passage across the Capitol — thanks to campaign-season politics.
该法案的参议院版本由俄亥俄州参议员乔恩·休斯德起草并大力推动，这位共和党人被任命接替副总统JD·万斯，目前正面临与前民主党参议员谢罗德·布朗的艰难选战。
The Senate version of the bill was written and is being championed by Ohio Sen. Jon Husted, the Republican who was appointed to replace Vice President JD Vance and is now facing a tough election bid against former Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown.
尽管在众议院获得近乎一致通过，参议院民主党人却将其视为共和党领袖试图救助一位陷入困境的候选人，后者一直遭受以数据中心为主题的竞选攻击。据对十多位参议院民主党议员及助手的采访，大多数人尚未决定是否提供支持。
Despite near-unanimous approval in the House, Senate Democrats see it as an attempt by GOP leaders to bail out an embattled candidate who has been inundated with data-center-themed campaign attacks. Most have yet to decide whether to lend their support, according to interviews with more than a dozen Senate Democrats and aides.
“这是为了挽救休斯德的竞选活动，”参议院民主党二号人物迪克·德宾参议员在采访中表示，尽管他承认自己尚未决定如何投票。参议院少数党领袖查克·舒默本周将休斯德的法案斥为毫无实效的“骗局”。但民主党人也有战略考量：投票开始辩论该法案可能有助于让共和党人更长时间无法投入竞选活动，并保护本党成员免受出于政治动机的阻挠指责。另一方面，即使程序性投票成功，也有助长休斯德声势的风险，并可能引发不可预测的修正案过程。
“It’s an effort to rescue Husted’s campaign,” Sen. Dick Durbin, the No. 2 Senate Democrat, said in an interview, even as he acknowledged that he himself hasn’t yet decided how to vote. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer this week dismissed Husted’s bill as a toothless “fraud.” But there are strategic considerations for Democrats: Voting to start debate on the bill could help keep Republicans off the campaign trail even longer and insulate their own members against charges of politically motivated obstructionism. On the other hand, even a successful procedural vote risks boosting Husted and could kick off an unpredictable amendment process.
参议院预计将于周三进行初步表决，推进该法案至少需要七名民主党议员的支持。多位参议员在接受采访时表示，民主党尚未就该法案进行全体党团讨论。他们可能会在周二的每周午餐会上讨论此事。
The Senate is expected to take an initial vote Wednesday, and at least seven Democratic votes will be needed to advance it. Democrats haven’t yet had a caucuswide discussion about the bill, several senators said in interviews. They could discuss the matter Tuesday at a weekly lunch.
两名要求匿名以描述私下对话的共和党参议员表示，共和党内部并不指望该法案能获得最终通过所需的60票。
Two GOP senators granted anonymity to describe private conversations said that Republicans privately don’t expect the bill to get the 60 votes needed to ultimately pass.
然而公开场合上，哈斯特德试图给民主党施加压力，他在周四对记者说：“每个人都将有机会决定自己是否支持美国消费者。”“这将要求数据中心自行承担电费，而不是转嫁给消费者，”他说，“这是美国公众想要的。这是国会每个人都说他们支持的。他们说支持让生活更负担得起。这是一个让每个人证明自己的机会。”
Two GOP senators granted anonymity to describe private conversations said that Republicans privately don’t expect the bill to get the 60 votes needed to ultimately pass.
目前，参议员彼得·韦尔奇（民主党，佛蒙特州）是唯一一位公开表示将支持哈斯特德法案的民主党人——尽管他补充说“该法案还不够有力”，这呼应了众议院民主党人的立场，他们尽管有类似担忧，但仍以压倒性多数支持该措施。“我想提供帮助，”韦尔奇说，“我想保护费率支付者。”
Publicly, however, Husted is trying to keep the pressure on Democrats, telling reporters Thursday “everybody is going to get a chance to decide whether they’re for the American consumer.”“This would require data centers to pay for their own electricity rather than pass it on to the consumers,” he said. “That’s something the American public wants. That’s something that everybody in Congress says they’re for. They say they’re for more affordability. This is a chance for everybody to prove it.” Sen. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) is so far the only Democrat to say publicly he will support Husted’s bill — though he added that “the bill didn’t go far enough,” echoing House Democrats who overwhelmingly backed the measure despite similar concerns.
参议员克里斯·范霍伦（民主党，马里兰州）表示，他将支持启动法案审议的程序性动议，但随后会尝试附加他自己的《人民电力法案》，这是一项解决数据中心问题的更激进举措。
“I’d like to help,” Welch said. “I’d like to protect ratepayers.” Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) said he would support a procedural motion to take up the bill but would then try to attach his own Power for the People Act, a more aggressive effort to address the data center issue.
他说，只有“如果他们同意允许提出修正案”，他才会支持进一步推进该法案。其他几位参议院民主党人——包括面临连任竞选的佐治亚州参议员乔恩·奥索夫，以及以擅长两党交易著称的新罕布什尔州参议员珍妮·沙欣和弗吉尼亚州参议员马克·沃纳——周四表示，他们尚未就该法案做出决定。
He said he would support advancing the bill further “only … if they agree to allow amendments.” Several other Senate Democrats — including in-cycle Jon Ossoff of Georgia and known bipartisan dealmakers such as Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire and Mark Warner of Virginia — said Thursday they hadn’t yet made up their minds on the bill.
《费率支付人保护法案》将要求各州“考虑”——但不强制要求——一个框架，确保数据中心支付所有能源成本和电网升级费用。参院进步派和民主党领袖过去一周一直在放大担忧，认为该法案在强制执行费率支付人保护方面力度不够。一些人推动参议员马丁·海因里希（D-新墨西哥州）提出的一项更强有力的法案。
The Ratepayer Protection Act would require states to “consider” — but not mandate — a framework ensuring data centers pay for all energy costs and grid updates. Senate progressives and Democratic party leaders have spent the past week amplifying concerns that the bill does not go far enough in enforcing protections for ratepayers. Some have pushed a more forceful bill from Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.).
舒默周三对记者说，哈斯特德的法案是“自愿的”。“没有任何公司被要求遵守。我们手中的法案是强制性的。它强得多，也是所需要的。”夏威夷州参议员布赖恩·沙茨，民主党副党鞭，周四在接受采访时表示，他觉得该法案“有点弱”，但他没有宣布党领袖是否会动员反对该法案。
Husted’s bill is “voluntary,” Schumer told reporters Wednesday. “No company has to do it. The bill we have is mandatory. It is much stronger and is what is needed.” Sen. Brian Schatz of Hawaii, the Democrats’ deputy whip, said in an interview Thursday that he found the bill “kind of weak” but that he didn’t have an announcement about whether party leaders would whip against it.
该法案在参院已引发不少戏剧性场面，上周哈斯特德试图在众议院以417比3的压倒性票数通过该法案后，在参院议场以口头表决方式通过该法案。作为参院能源和自然资源委员会资深少数党成员的海因里希否决了这一请求，声称参院需要通过具有“真正约束力”的立法。随着共和党领袖下周推动对该措施进行点名投票，海因里希周四重申了这些担忧。他敦促立法者转而通过他自己的立法，或等待一个可能包含数据中心条款的更广泛的能源许可改革方案。
The bill has already seen its share of drama in the Senate, when Husted last week tried to follow up a resounding 417-3 House vote on the bill by passing the bill by voice vote on the Senate floor. Heinrich, the ranking member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, shot down that request, claiming that the Senate needed to pass legislation with “real teeth.” Heinrich repeated those concerns Thursday as GOP leaders moved toward a roll call vote on the measure next week. He urged lawmakers to instead pass his own legislation or await a broader energy permitting reform package that could include data center provisions.
“我们现在在许可改革中处理这类问题是有原因的，”他在采访中说。“因为我们已经看到，由于数据中心需求增加，消费者的电价已经上涨。所以我们应该通过一些东西，但它必须有约束力。”
“There’s a reason why we’re working on these kinds of issues in permitting reform right now,” he said in an interview. “It’s because we’ve already seen electric rates go up for consumers as a result of the increased demand from data centers. So we should pass something, but it should have teeth in it.”