New Tennessee law requires data centers to pay for their own electricity infrastructure

A new law signed by Gov. Bill Lee signed new legislation aims to protect utility ratepayers’ pockets when new data centers come to town.

The law, sponsored by Sen. Brent Taylor (R-Memphis) and Rep. Ed Butler (R-Rickman), requires data centers that have a peak demand of at least 50 megawatts of electricity during the first three years of operation to pay for their own electricity infrastructure so the ratepayers aren’t stuck with the bill.

“Under no circumstances should ratepayers have to pay for the infrastructure improvements needed by these data centers and their insatiable appetite for energy,” Taylor said.