Senate has DC to itself this week

The Senate has one week of floor time before it leaves for a month-long recess ahead of Election Day, and Majority Leader John Thune has a few items on the list: starting with a bill to reform college sports tonight, followed by a procedural vote on the Ratepayer Protection Act and a last push on permitting reform later on.

Wednesday's cloture vote on H.R. 9340

Senate Republicans are eyeing an initial vote on the Ratepayer Protection Act this Wednesday. Thune specifically noted the bill as a test vote, saying it is "front and center" on the affordability list. The House passed H.R. 9340 on September 16 by a 417-3 vote. The bill would require state utility commissions to consider establishing separate rate standards for large electricity users such as data centers, ensuring those customers — not families or small businesses — pay for the power generation and transmission infrastructure needed to serve their facilities. The bill needs 60 votes to advance, so Thune would need help from Senate Democrats to pass the bill. The bill's sponsor, Sen. Jon Husted, has trailed against former Sen. Sherrod Brown and has faced scrutiny for his previous support for data centers when he was Ohio's Lieutenant Governor.

The Heinrich position

Sen. Martin Heinrich of New Mexico, the top Democrat on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, blocked the unanimous consent attempt on September 17, arguing that the measure doesn't go far enough: "The senator from Ohio and I agree on one thing, AI data centers can mean higher costs for American families," he said, "but the Ratepayer Protection Act falls short of what we need to do to respond." Heinrich introduced his own alternative, the GRID Savings Act (S. 5199), on August 3, which would give FERC rulemaking jurisdiction over large load customers defined as facilities demanding more than 150 megawatts of electricity. His bill forces large load customers to pay for the facilities needed to connect them to the grid — a mandatory requirement, not a state-level suggestion. On September 17, Heinrich asked the Senate to pass his bill by unanimous consent, but Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio) objected.

Permitting reform goes to lame duck

Senate Environment and Public Works ranking member Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) said Thursday that the process of papering, selling, and voting on a potential permitting deal will likely push consideration to the lame-duck session in November. At a news conference, Whitehouse said negotiators are "over the hump on the deal-break issues" and that text "should be finalized within a matter of days, maybe even hours." Capito and Lee led negotiations for the Republican majority; Whitehouse and Heinrich led for the Democrats. Whitehouse and Heinrich negotiated with Republican counterparts for months after talks broke down in December when Trump halted five near-complete offshore East Coast wind farms; the White House has since given Democrats assurances about how wind and solar projects would be handled in the bill. Whitehouse said a deal could pass in lame duck, but the White House warned that its concessions to Democrats could expire: "The Administration and congressional Republicans agreed to a strong bipartisan offer. The Democrats have since refused to take yes for an answer. If they think that the administration is going to freeze these concessions until the lame duck, they are severely mistaken," a White House official said. Still, House Speaker Mike Johnson has not indicated any willingness to bring the House back into session prior to the midterms, leaving the lame duck as the soonest a permitting reform package could be passed by Congress.