Tech companies pledge at White House event to bear costs of data centers

The leaders of several major tech companies met with President Trump at the White House on Wednesday to finalize a pledge to protect Americans from rising electricity bills tied to the power demand of energy-intensive data centers.

Executives from Google, Microsoft, Meta, Oracle, xAI, OpenAI and Amazon signed the so-called “Ratepayer Protection Pledge.” The initiative, announced by Mr. Trump during last month’s State of the Union address, aims to ensure that consumers will not pay for tech companies’ efforts to boost their artificial intelligence infrastructure.

Artificial intelligence computing capacity requires a vast amount of electricity that can drain regional grids.

“This agreement will ensure that Americans can maintain the most advanced AI infrastructure on the planet without American families being forced to pick up the tab,” Mr. Trump said.

Under the pledge, the tech companies commit to “build, bring or buy” electricity for their data centers from either new power plants or existing plants with expanded output.

The companies will also be required to negotiate separate rate structures with utility companies and assign those costs to their construction expenses.

The pledge also encourages companies to hire and train talent from within the communities where they build and operate data centers, which the Trump administration says will create thousands of jobs and bolster local workforces.

The initiative is part of a flurry of proposals by the Trump administration to address voters’ concerns about energy affordability and local jurisdictions being forced to subsidize Big Tech’s reliance on local power grids. Rising utility bills have been a prime concern of consumers.

A representative from Meta said the company “was extremely proud” to sign the pledge.

“We want to fully cover the cost of the energy that we use in our data centers to create jobs and opportunities,” she said.

The Center for American Progress, a progressive think tank, blasted the pledge, saying the agreement has no authority to stop the tech companies from passing increased utility costs onto U.S. consumers.

“A voluntary pledge from corporate actors to stay on their best behavior is simply a vague and largely meaningless effort that fails to offer ratepayers any guaranteed protection from soaring utility rates. Unless all data centers are required to pay their fair share for the costs for their power, companies can opt out or hide the true impacts of their data center development,” said Trevor Higgins, senior vice president of the Energy and Environment department at the Center for American Progress.