President Donald Trump announced an expansion of a voluntary pledge aimed at protecting American consumers from rising utility bills caused by artificial intelligence data centers. The initiative, which adds governors and electricity companies to the commitment first announced in March with major tech firms, will be discussed at the Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday.
The White House said nearly 200 additional stakeholders, including utilities, data center developers and governors, have joined the pledge, which would cover 80% of all power delivered to U.S. Households and businesses. "The president is ensuring the American people are never left footing the bill so private companies can benefit," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said.
The expansion comes as data center construction has emerged as a contentious issue ahead of the midterm elections. Voters are concerned about environmental impacts, rising electricity demand and affordability, particularly as tech companies compete for resources with communities. A recent analysis by ICF, a consulting and technology services company, projected that increased electricity demand could cause monthly utility bills to rise by 15% to 40% by 2030.
Opposition to data centers has become bipartisan, spreading even into Republican strongholds like rural Texas, where Gov. Greg Abbott is among 23 Republican governors who signed the nonbinding pledge. Democratic rival Gina Hinojosa has made the issue central to her gubernatorial campaign, saying "They are owned by the richest men in the world. We're all footing the bill. There are no rules. It is the Wild West of data centers."
Other governors have taken separate action. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul signed an order banning large server warehouse construction for a year, while Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a law intended to prevent utilities from passing data center energy costs to residential and small-business customers.
Google, Microsoft, Meta, Oracle, xAI, OpenAI and Amazon have already committed to the pledge.