American tech giants sign a White House pledge to bear the electricity costs of AI data centers themselves

Odaily Planet Daily reports that U.S. President Trump announced at a White House roundtable that Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft, OpenAI, Oracle, and xAI have signed a non-binding agreement called the “Ratepayer Protection Commitment,” pledging to independently “build, source, or purchase” the electricity needed for data centers without passing the costs on to consumers.

Trump stated that data centers “need some public relations help,” as the public worries that data center construction will drive up electricity prices, but he said this will not happen. A report released in February by Harvard Kennedy School indicated that the electricity demand from AI data centers has already exceeded existing supply in some areas, and by 2028, data center electricity consumption could account for 12% of the U.S. electricity use. Data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration shows that residential electricity prices will rise by 6% in 2025 and are expected to continue increasing through 2027 and 2028.

The commitment requires companies to cover all additional costs for new data center infrastructure, regardless of usage, and to pledge local hiring, skills training, and to open backup generators to the grid. This pledge was announced before the midterm elections in November, and it is currently unclear how the White House will ensure companies fulfill their commitments.