A new Senate bill would shield consumers from data-center energy cost increases, but the analysis emphasizes that targeting data centers alone misses the structural problem: the U.S. grid has been underbuilt and undermodernized for decades. Data centers account for about 7% of U.S. electricity demand, up sharply from roughly 1% 15 years ago, amid steep demand growth. The four largest hyperscale tech companies are projected to spend about $650 billion in capital expenditures this year, intensifying questions about grid readiness. The report argues that transmission bottlenecks, interconnection backlogs, and planning models—not data centers as a category—drive higher electricity costs. It also points to broader electrification pressures, including electric vehicles, heat pumps, and industrial electrification, which all stress grid capacity in new ways. The policy implication is that grid modernization, not selective cost shifting, may determine whether electricity becomes affordable and reliable for the next wave of AI-enabled demand.