Trump Expands AI Ratepayer Pledge to 200 Entities as It Claims to Cover 80% of US Power
Updated
Updated · The Guardian · Jul 23
Trump Expands AI Ratepayer Pledge to 200 Entities as It Claims to Cover 80% of US Power
3 articles · Updated · The Guardian · Jul 23
Summary
Nearly 200 companies, utilities, co-ops and governors have joined Trump’s non-binding Ratepayer Protection Pledge, which the White House says now covers providers delivering 80% of US electricity.
The expansion is meant to blunt backlash over AI datacenters by requiring builders and power suppliers to absorb their own costs instead of passing them to households as utility bills rise before November’s midterms.
June utility prices were up 4% from a year earlier, while opposition to datacenters has spread across party lines over power costs, environmental strain and local impacts.
More than a dozen states have weighed datacenter moratoria, New York enacted a temporary ban this month, and even Texas Governor Greg Abbott called for a rural Texas ban despite signing the pledge.
Green groups dismissed the announcement as a toothless photo op, arguing a voluntary pledge without enforcement will not lower electric bills or force tech companies to pay more.