The Maryland Senate has passed a new bill that includes provisions aimed at managing the impact of large load users, such as data centers, on the grid.

The Utility Relief Act, designed to reduce electricity costs for ratepayers, will now move to a conference committee to reconcile differences with the version previously approved by the House of Delegates prior to being sent to the Governor.

The bill passed almost unanimously, with only four Senators, all Republicans, voting against the legislation. However, there remain significant differences between House and Senate lawmakers, with some House Representatives arguing that some of the changes made in the Senate are too friendly to utility companies.

A key focus of the legislation is the treatment of “large load customers,” which includes most data centers and other large industrial consumers. The Senate version of the legislation lowers the load factor threshold used to define these customers, which could feasibly expand the number of projects that would be subject to additional regulatory oversight.

The Senate also added provisions aimed specifically at data center development, including a voluntary clean capacity program. Under this approach, projects that bring their own clean energy, incorporate on-site or dedicated generation, or participate in demand response programs could receive priority in interconnection and permitting processes.

Both chambers’ versions of the bill introduce new reporting requirements for large energy users, mandating that data centers disclose information such as electricity and water usage to a state registry. However, the House version would make this information publicly available earlier in the development process, whereas the Senate version would delay disclosure until operations begin.

Another key area of difference is utility rate-setting. The House bill includes a provision prohibiting “speculative” rate-setting practices, in which utilities base rates on projected costs rather than actual expenditures. The Senate version instead calls for further study, allowing the practice to continue in the near term.

The conference committee will determine which of these provisions make it into the final legislation, including how costs associated with grid upgrades and new infrastructure are allocated between large energy users and other ratepayers.

The bill is the latest to emerge in a US state legislature aiming to protect ratepayers from cost increases tied to data center growth.

Ohio was one of the first states to pass legislation to this effect, with the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) approving a new rate class in July. It requires new data center customers in Ohio to pay for a portion of their energy requests, even if they use less, to cover the cost of the infrastructure required to bring electricity to those facilities.

Following this, in September, Virginia’s main utility Dominion Energy proposed a new rate class for data centers, applying to utility customers who consume more than 25MW of energy and have a monthly load factor of more than 75 percent.

In January, Wisconsin joined the party, with the Wisconsin State Assembly passing a bill that would set out several protections for ratepayers.