A bill intended to address voters' concerns about data centers and their impact on energy costs failed to advance in the Senate on Wednesday, becoming the casualty of an election-year clash over how best to tackle a growing concern.

Before leaving Washington to campaign, Senate Republicans set aside one of the chamber's final votes for a bill they hoped would highlight efforts to address the impact data centers have on voters' monthly energy bills.

The bill needed 60 votes to advance, but fell short, 57—43.

The bill is a modest one.

It would require utility regulators to consider adopting a federal standard that charges large power customers a rate that covers the cost of the system upgrades needed to serve them.

Democrats say it amounts to a suggestion and that more is needed.

Republicans say the bill sends a message to regulators to act.

The bill's sponsor, Sen. Jon Husted, a Republican from Ohio, is caught up in a tough reelection battle and has been labeled in campaign ads as the "face of data centers" by his Democratic challenger, former Sen. Sherrod Brown.

"You all know this is the only option available," Husted told reporters in advocating for his bill.

"Passing this bill is the only way to get a chance to prove to the American people before the midterm elections whose side you're on."

The measure passed the House by a vote of 417-3.

It would have needed support from at least seven Democratic senators to proceed to a final vote, but that did not happen, given the criticism from within their ranks that it does not go far enough and the knowledge that passage could give Husted's reelection prospects a lift.

"The bill is a fraud, plain and simple," Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer asserted.

Democrats have put forward competing proposals.

Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., sponsored legislation that would direct the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to issue rules for large electricity customers, requiring them to pay for necessary grid upgrades.

"They desire it to be optional, which effectively amounts to zero.

We, on the other hand, insist that it be mandatory," Schumer stated.

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Republicans are seeking to cast Democrats as obstructionists who are blocking progress on key voter concerns.

Husted’s bill is one example.

Another would be the bill from Sen. Pete Ricketts, R-Neb., that would bar members of Congress from purchasing individual stocks.

The issue is a popular one with candidates running for office this election cycle, but also includes voter identification requirements that Democrats have called a poison pill.

Thune arranged for both bills to undergo procedural votes, and neither managed to reach the 60-vote threshold needed to move forward.

“Both pieces of legislation strike at the very heart of issues that the American people care deeply about, passionately about, and we’ll see if the Democrats are willing to take yes for an answer,” Thune said.

Both the House and the Senate are anticipated to remain out of session throughout the entirety of October.

The House adjourned in mid-September, forgoing nearly two weeks of votes, as Republicans were eager to hit the campaign trail in an effort to preserve their majority in the next Congress.

President Donald Trump has embraced the construction of additional data centers, yet a growing sense of apprehension is emerging among voters.

Roughly 6 in 10 Americans favor restricting the number of new data centers that may be built, a stance shared by most Democrats and Republicans alike.

Moreover, a majority of Americans are either “extremely” or “very” concerned about the impact of data centers on electricity prices or on the water supply in the communities where they are built.

In Ohio—a data center hot spot where races for governor and the U.S. Senate are closely contested—the National Republican Senatorial Committee cautioned in a recent memo that Husted is vulnerable to losing his seat on account of the centers.

While serving as lieutenant governor, Husted helped promote Ohio as a destination for data centers.

The Ohio race is regarded as crucial to determining control of the Senate, which helps explain why the data center bill has drawn such intense scrutiny and is so fiercely contested, despite the overwhelming vote it received in the House.

Speaking on the Senate floor before the vote, Husted said the bill requires states to at least confront the issue of data centers paying their own way for their power and the grid improvements needed to serve them.

He said the bill could hardly get broader support than it did in the House, but by blocking the bill in the Senate, Democrats would be showing they don't care about the issue of affordability.

“Let’s hold data centers accountable, and let’s stop blocking a path to affordability,” Husted said.