Nearly 200 additional utilities, developers, and governors have signed on, bringing the pledge to cover 80% of U.S. power delivery
Photo by Eli Hiller/For The Washington Post via Getty Images
President Donald Trump announced Thursday that nearly 200 additional entities — including major utilities, data center developers, electricity co-ops, and state governors — have joined his administration's "Ratepayer Protection Pledge," expanding a voluntary commitment that consumers will not bear the cost of the AI data center build-out.
The expanded pledge now covers 80% of power delivered to U.S. homes and businesses, the White House said. Trump made the announcement at the Environmental Protection Agency, joined by Energy Secretary Chris Wright, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin, and four Republican governors: Louisiana's Jeff Landry, Georgia's Brian Kemp, Nebraska's Jim Pillen, and Idaho's Brad Little.
"President Trump is expanding the Ratepayer Protection Pledge to governors, legislators, developers, and power providers to ensure everyone involved in building and powering data centers covers their own costs instead of passing them on to American families," White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers said in a statement.
When Trump first issued the pledge as a proclamation in March, it specified that AI companies "will build, bring, or buy the new generation resources and electricity needed to satisfy their energy demands, and pay for all new power delivery infrastructure upgrades to service their data centers," The Hill reported. The pledge is nonbinding.
The expansion comes as opposition to data centers has grown into a bipartisan concern. Electricity prices were up 4% year-over-year in June, and increased demand from data centers could push monthly utility bills up 15% to 40% by 2030, according to a recent analysis by consulting firm ICF. Twenty-three Republican governors have signed the pledge, including Texas Gov. Greg Abbott $ABT, whose state has seen rising frustration over data center growth.
The issue has also drawn legislative attention in Congress. The House Energy and Commerce Committee's energy subcommittee voted last month on the bipartisan Ratepayer Protection Act, which would require state utility regulators to consider making data center builders pay for grid upgrades rather than passing those costs to residential and small-business ratepayers. The bill would also codify the principles behind Trump's pledge, its sponsors said. The measure still faces votes in the full House and Senate before it could reach the president.
Some states have moved on their own. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul put in place a yearlong pause on the construction of large new data centers in the state. Oregon's utility regulator approved rules under which Portland General Electric $GE began charging data centers an average of 29% more for electricity while cutting rates for residential and other customers.
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