Trump expands Ratepayer Pledge to cover 80% of US power

President Donald Trump announced a significant expansion of a voluntary White House initiative on July 23, 2026, aimed at preventing the soaring electricity demands of artificial intelligence data centers from raising household utility bills. The expanded "Ratepayer Protection Pledge" now includes more than 200 utilities, energy cooperatives, data center developers, and 23 Republican governors, which the administration says covers roughly 80 percent of all power delivered to U.S. homes and businesses.

The core principle of the pledge, first introduced in March with commitments from major tech firms including Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft, OpenAI, Oracle, and xAI, requires signatories to fund or build all the new power generation and grid infrastructure needed for their data center operations. Companies must also cover the full cost of associated grid upgrades, whether they use all the electricity or not, with the goal of insulating ordinary consumers from these expenses.

Speaking at an event at the Environmental Protection Agency headquarters in Washington, D.C., Trump framed the policy as essential for U.S. competitiveness and economic growth. He stated that fulfilling AI's...