More than 200 companies and politicians, including some of the largest U.S. utilities, have signed a voluntary pledge aimed at preventing artificial intelligence (AI) data centers from driving up electricity costs for consumers, President Donald Trump announced on Thursday. The initiative, dubbed the “ratepayer protection pledge,” seeks to ensure that corporations bearing the costs of new infrastructure needed to meet surging electricity demands tied to AI operations, rather than shifting these expenses onto residential customers.

Originally introduced by Mr. Trump during his State of the Union address in February, the pledge gained early commitments from major technology companies such as Amazon, Google, and Microsoft earlier this year. On Thursday, the lineup expanded to include utilities such as NextEra Energy, Southern Company, and Duke Energy, which supply power to millions of households, along with key data center developers like Equinix and Digital Realty. Additionally, 23 Republican governors added their signatures to the pledge. However, no Democratic governors have joined, and the White House has not actively engaged Democratic leaders about the initiative. Many Democratic-led states have introduced their own measures to limit the impact of data centers on energy costs.

The growing power demands of data centers are a mounting concern in many U.S. regions. Large AI data centers can consume electricity comparable to small cities, sometimes requiring costly new power plants and upgrades to transmission networks. When energy consumers within these sectors do not fully cover associated infrastructure costs, the financial burden can fall on other consumers, potentially pushing up rates. Wholesale electricity prices have risen sharply in several markets, such as PJM Interconnection—a grid operator serving 65 million people in the Mid-Atlantic—where the influx of new data centers coincides with the retirement of older power plants.

Despite the pledge’s symbolic nature, experts caution that enforcement may be difficult, as electricity rates and infrastructure decisions are largely governed by state regulators and regional grid operators. Ari Peskoe, director of the Electricity Law Initiative at Harvard University, described the pledge as largely theatrical, emphasizing that actual changes occur at the utility and regulatory levels. The White House has encouraged PJM to develop a framework that would require data centers to bear costs of new power facilities, but negotiations remain unresolved.

While many tech companies have committed to paying higher rates under the pledge, some are increasingly investing in off-grid power sources, often natural gas plants. Meta, for example, is constructing such a facility in El Paso, Texas. The Environmental Protection Agency has relaxed certain restrictions on emissions from gas turbines to facilitate data center expansions, a step supported by the administration amidst its push to maintain U.S. competitiveness in AI technology.

Opposition to data centers has grown in numerous communities, with concerns about noise, pollution, and high resource consumption. New York recently enacted a one-year moratorium on large data center construction to evaluate environmental impacts. Governor Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, expressed skepticism about the pledge’s effectiveness, questioning whether participating companies will fulfill their commitments.

President Trump defended data center projects, noting economic benefits such as increased tax revenues and job creation in some localities. He criticized opponents of the projects as obstructing efforts to lower energy costs. However, official data indicates that U.S. residential electricity rates have risen by nearly 18 percent since Mr. Trump returned to office, although data centers are not the primary driver of this increase. The debate underscores the complex balance policymakers face in fostering technological advancement while managing infrastructure costs and community impacts.