Google, Microsoft, Meta, Amazon and several artificial intelligence companies signed a pledge at the White House on Wednesday to bear the cost of new electricity generation to power their datacenters. The agreement aims to mitigate concerns that big tech's datacenters are driving up US electricity costs for homes and small businesses, as the Trump administration seeks to curb inflation.
President Trump said at the signing event: "This means that the tech companies and the datacenters will be able to get the electricity they need, all without driving up electricity costs for consumers. This is a historic win for countless American families and we'll also make our electricity grid stronger and more resilient than ever before."
The so-called "Ratepayer Protection Pledge" includes commitments by technology companies to bring or buy electricity supplies for their datacenters, either from new power plants or existing plants with expanded output capacity. It also includes commitments to pay for upgrades to power delivery systems and to enter special electricity rate agreements with utilities.
The initiative is launched ahead of the November midterm elections, with voters increasingly concerned about energy affordability and the strain on power grids from datacenters. Companies represented include Oracle, xAI and OpenAI, alongside the major tech firms. However, critics question whether the pledge will accelerate new electricity supply quickly enough to ease grid pressure.
