Trump will make utilities, data centers PROMISE not to raise your electric bills

[dalton99a]

https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/white-house-rally-utilities-data-centers-over-ai-power-costs-2026-07-13/

White House to rally utilities, data centers for AI power cost pledge, sources say
By Jarrett Renshaw and Laila Kearney
July 13, 2026 5:05 AM CDT

WASHINGTON, July 13 (Reuters) - The White House plans to ‌bring together utility companies and data center developers to make a voluntary pledge designed to ensure that rapid growth in electricity demand from artificial intelligence does not drive up power bills for households and businesses, according to three people familiar with ​the plans.

An event to announce the initiative is expected in the coming weeks, with several companies ​taking part and vowing to protect current ratepayers from shouldering all the costs of ⁠AI expansion. The guest list is still being finalized, the sources said.

Surging demand from power-hungry data centers ​has prompted regulators, consumer advocates and lawmakers in several states to warn that households could end up subsidizing grid ​upgrades needed to serve some of the world's largest technology companies, raising questions over whether the pledge will deliver concrete commitments or remain largely symbolic.

As President Donald Trump's administration pushes to accelerate the expansion of AI infrastructure, it hopes to avoid ​a political backlash over rising electricity bills.

Earlier this year, Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft, OpenAI, Oracle and xAI signed a ​voluntary "Ratepayer Protection Pledge" at a White House ceremony, committing to finance the electricity infrastructure needed for their AI projects rather ‌than passing ⁠those costs on to existing utility customers.

...

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"We PROMISE to TRY to keep your rates down for a while IF WE CAN until after all the data centers are built"

And Mexico will pay for the wall