Rate Payer Protection Act.

GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
SESSION 2025
H 1
HOUSE BILL 1002

Short Title: Rate Payer Protection Act. (Public)
Sponsors: Representatives Harrison, Loftis, and Cervania (Primary Sponsors).
For a complete list of sponsors, refer to the North Carolina General Assembly web site.
Referred to: Rules, Calendar, and Operations of the House
April 14, 2025
*H1002-v-1*
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED 1
AN ACT PROHIBITING PASSING ANY GRID OR ENERGY COSTS INCURRED SOLELY 2
FOR SERVING DATA CEN TERS TO RATE PAYERS AND CREATING A SPECI AL 3
COMMISSION FOR DATA CENTER PLANNING. 4
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts: 5
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PART I. DATA CENTER COST RECOVERY 7
SECTION 1. Article 7 of Chapter 62 of the General Statutes is amended by adding 8
a new section to read: 9
"§ 62-159.3. Prohibit cost recovery for data centers. 10
(a) For the purposes of this section, the term "commercial data center" means a facility, 11
campus of facilities, or array of interconnected facilities in this State that is used by an entity or 12
other business enterprise to operate, manage, or maintain a computer, group of computers, or 13
other organized assembly of hardware and software for the primary purpose of processing, 14
storing, retrieving, or transmitting data and has a peak demand of 100 megawatts or greater. 15
(b) Notwithstanding any other provision to the contrary, no costs incurred by a public 16
utility, including, but not limited to, costs associated with increased fuel requirements, generation 17
costs, and grid upgrade costs shall be included in any rates or charges approved or allowed to go 18
into effect if the cost satisfies all of the following criteria: 19
(1) Is related to the provision of electric services for commercial data centers. 20
(2) May be reasonably attributed to, either in whole or in part, the electric demand 21
of commercial data centers. 22
(c) Public utilities may charge rates or charges designed to recover costs associated with 23
subsection (b) of this section if the rates or charges are incurred solely from commercial data 24
centers or are prorated based on electric demand." 25
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PART II. CREATION OF SPECIAL COMMISSION 27
SECTION 2.1. There is established a Special Commission for Data Center Planning 28
(Commission). The Commission shall be composed of 14 members. All members shall serve for 29
the duration of the Commission. Any vacancy shall be filled in the same manner in which the 30
original appointment was made. The Commission may elect officers, other than the chairperson, 31
as it deems necessary. The Commission shall be composed as follows: 32
(1) The Governor shall appoint three members, two of whom shall be 33
representatives from an investor-owned public utility, and one of whom shall 34
be a member of an electric membership corporation. 35
General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025
Page 2 House Bill 1002-First Edition
(2) The President Pro Tempore of the Senate shall appoint one member. 1
(3) The Speaker of the House of Representatives shall appoint two members. 2
(4) The minorit y leader of the House of Representatives shall appoint one 3
member. 4
(5) The minority leader of the Senate shall appoint one member. 5
(6) Two members shall be from the North Carolina Utilities Commission or 6
designees chosen by the chairperson of the North Car olina Utilities 7
Commission. 8
(7) The Secretary of Commerce, or his or her designee, shall appoint two 9
members. 10
(8) The Secretary of Health and Human Services, or his or her designee, shall 11
appoint two members. 12
SECTION 2.2. The Commission shall accomplish the following: 13
(1) Review existing electric grid and energy supply and make recommendations 14
for data center locations, based on such review and consideration of fiber, 15
water, labor, and latency related to data centers. 16
(2) Make recommendations to expand grid capacity in areas where energy for data 17
applications is most needed. 18
(3) Make recommendations on any energy generation, transmission, and 19
distribution expansion necessary to serve the industry. 20
(4) Consider creative approaches to manage usage, includi ng variable load, 21
on-site generation, efficiency, and backup generation. 22
(5) Examine future trends related to the data center industry, including artificial 23
intelligence and project impact on the electric grid. 24
(6) Survey corporate employers to determine p erceptions of adequacy of data 25
center capacity in North Carolina. 26
(7) Propose related legislation and budget recommendations. 27
SECTION 2.3. The Commission may request and receive information from 28
appropriate State agencies which the Commission deems useful in fulfilling its duties. Such 29
agencies shall cooperate with the Commission with respect to such information and shall furnish 30
all information requested by the Commission to the extent permitted by law. Additionally, the 31
Commission shall have the following powers: 32
(1) To authorize entering into contracts or agreements through the Commission's 33
chairperson necessary or incidental to the performance of its duties. 34
(2) To establish rules and procedures for conducting the business of the 35
Commission. 36
(3) To hold public hearings. 37
(4) To request the attendance and testimony of such witnesses and the production 38
of such documents as the Commission deems necessary to fulfill its duties. 39
SECTION 2.4. The Commission may conduct meetings at such places and times as 40
it deems necessary or convenient to enable it to fully and effectively exercise its powers, perform 41
its duties, and accomplish the objectives and purposes of this act. The Commission shall hold 42
meetings at the call of the chairperson. A quorum for transacting business shall be a majority of 43
the members of the Commission. 44
SECTION 2.5. The Commission shall submit a written report of its findings and 45
recommendations to the Governor, the President Pro Tempore of the Senate, the Speaker of the 46
House of Representatives, the minority leaders of the Senate and the House of Representatives, 47
and the North Carolina Utilities Commission no later than three months after the date of the last 48
meeting of the Commission. 49
SECTION 2.6. This Part expires June 30, 2027, and the Co mmission will be 50
abolished on this date. 51
General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025
House Bill 1002-First Edition Page 3
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PART III. EFFECTIVE DATE 2
SECTION 3. Unless otherwise provided, this act is effective when it becomes law. 3