India, Sept. 18 -- A Senate Democrat blocked a Republican-led effort on Thursday to fast-track legislation intended to shield American households from rising energy costs linked to data centres, a day after the measure passed the House of Representatives with overwhelming bipartisan support.

Senator Martin Heinrich of New Mexico, the top Democrat on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, objected when Republican Senator Jon Husted of Ohio sought to pass the bill by unanimous consent, a procedure that allows a single lawmaker to halt a measure's progress.

The legislation, known as the Ratepayer Protection Act, seeks to require technology companies to cover the costs of new energy infrastructure built to serve data centres, ra...