Tennessee HB 1847 / SB 2128 — Data Center Ratepayer Protection Act

Tennessee HB 1847/SB 2128, signed May 7, 2026 and effective July 1, 2026, requires data centers drawing 50 megawatts or more of electricity to pay their proportionate share of transmission and distribution infrastructure costs, rather than spreading those costs across all utility ratepayers. The law prevents large hyperscale data centers from being cross-subsidized by ordinary residential and small commercial customers.

Technical detail

Tenn. HB 1847/SB 2128 (114th General Assembly, 2026) — establishes a 50 MW load threshold above which data center operators must bear their proportionate allocated share of new or upgraded electric transmission and distribution infrastructure costs required to serve their load. Directs the Tennessee Regulatory Authority (TRA) to adopt implementing rules. Amends Tennessee utility ratemaking statutes. Signed by Governor Lee May 7, 2026; effective July 1, 2026.

Who is protected: Tennessee residential and commercial electric ratepayers who would otherwise cross-subsidize large data center infrastructure costs

Who must comply: Data center operators drawing 50 MW or more from Tennessee electric utilities

Key facts

Related data-center siting and energy rules elsewhere

• Superior WI Data Center Moratorium (1-year) · In effect
• Dane County WI Hyperscale Data Center Moratorium · In effect
• Madison WI Data Center Moratorium (1-year) · In effect
• Manitowoc County WI Data Center Moratorium · In effect
• WA SB 5982 (Data Center / Clean Energy) · In effect
• Dayton OH data center moratorium (180-day, Apr 2026) · In effect