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President Donald Trump is expanding a White House initiative designed to keep the booming artificial intelligence industry from driving up electricity bills for American families, adding nearly 200 new participants to the administration's Ratepayer Protection Pledge, The Hill reported.
The expanded coalition reportedly now includes major utilities, data center developers, electric cooperatives, public power providers, and Republican governors, with the White House saying the pledge now covers roughly 80% of the electricity delivered to U.S. homes and businesses.
Trump is expected to announce the expansion Thursday during an event with Energy Secretary Chris Wright, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin, and Republican Govs. Jeff Landry of Louisiana, Brian Kemp of Georgia, Jim Pillen of Nebraska, and Brad Little of Idaho.
Among the new participants are utility giants NextEra Energy and Duke Energy, joining technology companies that previously signed the pledge, including Google, Microsoft, Meta, Oracle, xAI, OpenAI, and Amazon, The Hill reported.
The administration launched the initiative earlier this year after securing commitments from major AI companies that they would bear the costs of the new electricity generation and grid upgrades needed to power their data centers instead of passing those expenses on to consumers.
"President Trump is expanding the Ratepayer Protection Pledge to governors, legislators, developers, and power providers to ensure everyone involved in building and powering data centers covers their own costs instead of passing them on to American families," White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers said in a statement to The Hill.
"The President's bold action is turning data centers into engines of growth for local communities, while cementing America's dominance in the global AI race," Rogers added.
Trump laid out the framework in a March proclamation, stating participating AI companies "will build, bring, or buy the new generation resources and electricity needed to satisfy their energy demands, and pay for all new power delivery infrastructure upgrades to service their data centers."
The proclamation also says companies will negotiate their own electricity rate structures with utilities and state governments rather than shifting costs to existing ratepayers, The Hill reported.
The announcement comes as electricity demand continues to climb amid the rapid buildout of AI infrastructure nationwide. Bureau of Labor Statistics data show electricity prices rose 4% year over year in June.
Lawmakers in both parties have expressed concerns about the increasing electricity demands of AI data centers, though they remain divided over the best policy response.
New York recently approved a moratorium of up to one year on new large-scale data center construction while state officials develop a regulatory framework.
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