阿拉巴马数据中心电费保护法10月1日生效：数据中心须自担发电输电成本，不得转嫁居民电费单
阿拉巴马州一项旨在保护居民电费的数据中心电力成本法规于10月1日正式生效。根据州法律，阿拉巴马公共服务委员会（APSC）的消费者保护标准被写入法典：数据中心必须自行承担因其用电而产生的全部成本，包括发电、燃料、输电、配电、税收及其他相关费用，不得转嫁给普通居民用户。
阿拉巴马电力公司（Alabama Power）表示，数据中心的供电合同已覆盖其新增发电成本。公司发言人华莱士（Wallace）称：“这些成本通过他们的协议得到覆盖。”公司首席财务官戴维·波罗赫（David Poroch）表示，为潜在新增发电资源征集方案（RFP）的工作正在进行中。而任何新增发电资源在投运前，都须经公共服务委员会公开程序审查后才能计入电费。
这项法律的出台有直接导火索：WBRC 电视台去年的调查报道《电力的代价》（The Price of Power）发现，阿拉巴马居民的电费位居全美最高之列，随后州议会通过法案改革公用事业监管、赋予公共服务委员会更大监督权，并将电费冻结延长至2029年。新法进一步把“数据中心自担成本”的原则落到纸面，但其实际效果可能数年后才能验证。
与此同时，联邦层面的同类立法受挫：参议院未能推进《纳税人保护法案》（Ratepayer Protection Act），投票结果为57比43，未达到推进门槛。该两党法案要求用电量达100兆瓦及以上的大型数据中心自行承担输电线路、发电设施和能源基础设施的全部成本。法案共同提案人、阿拉巴马州联邦参议员汤米·图伯维尔（Tommy Tuberville）说：“我们只是想让事情更容易做对——对电力公司好，也对买电的老百姓好。”参议院民主党领袖舒默（Chuck Schumer）则批评该法案“完全没抓到重点”、缺乏执行机制。
背景与影响：Meta、亚马逊等科技巨头的数据中心正加速在阿拉巴马落地，州内围绕数据中心用电成本的争议持续升温。新法生效后，居民电费是否真能与数据中心的巨额用电“脱钩”，将成为检验这项政策成色的关键。
Alabama Data Center Power-Cost Law Takes Effect Oct. 1: Data Centers Must Cover Their Own Costs, Shielding Ratepayers
Alabama's new data center power-cost law took effect on October 1, 2026, codifying consumer protections into state law. Under the Alabama Public Service Commission's (APSC) customer-protection standard, data centers must cover the full costs created by serving them — including generation, fuel, transmission, distribution, taxes and other costs — rather than passing them on to residential ratepayers.
Alabama Power said data centers' contracts already cover the added generation costs they create. "Those costs are covered through their agreements," said company spokesperson Wallace. Chief Financial Officer David Poroch said requests for proposals are underway for potential additional generation resources, and any new generation must be reviewed by the PSC in a public proceeding before it is added to bills.
The law has a direct backstory: a WBRC investigation, "The Price of Power," found that Alabamians were paying some of the highest power bills in the country. That led the Legislature to overhaul utility oversight through the APSC and extend a rate freeze through 2029. The new law puts the "data centers pay their own way" principle on paper — though whether it works as promised may not be verifiable for years.
Meanwhile, a federal counterpart stalled: the Senate failed to advance the bipartisan Ratepayer Protection Act on a 57-43 vote. The bill would have required large-load data centers — those drawing at least 100 megawatts — to pay the full cost of their transmission lines, power generation and energy infrastructure. Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), a cosponsor, said: "We're just trying to make things easier to do what's right for the power company as well as the people that buy the power." Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called the bill toothless and lacking enforcement.
Context and impact: as tech giants' data centers accelerate into Alabama, disputes over who pays for their enormous power demand keep intensifying. Whether residents' bills truly decouple from data centers' power use will be the key test of the new law.
图片来源：Aaron Hall 摄，CC BY-SA 2.0（Wikimedia Commons）
