• Donald Trump is set to extend the Ratepayer Protection Pledge to utilities, data-centre developers, governors and lawmakers
  • The White House says participating organisations account for 80% of electricity delivered to US homes and businesses, but the pledge remains non-binding

The fact

US President Donald Trump is set to unveil an expanded Ratepayer Protection Pledge on Thursday, backed by governors, lawmakers, utilities and data-centre developers. Under the voluntary pledge, companies building and using data centres would agree to pay above-normal electricity rates, with the aim of keeping project-related costs off household bills, Reuters reported.

The original pledge was signed in March by Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft, OpenAI, Oracle and xAI. The companies agreed to secure new power supplies, pay for the grid upgrades required for their data centres and negotiate separate rates with utilities and state governments. They also committed to paying for contracted electricity and supporting infrastructure even when they do not use the full capacity.

Trump is expected to make the announcement alongside Energy Secretary Chris Wright, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin and several governors. The White House said organisations supporting the expanded pledge account for 80% of the electricity delivered to US homes and businesses. The pledge remains non-binding.

The assessment

The original pledge covered seven technology companies. Expanding it to utilities and data-centre developers would include more of the organisations involved in negotiating connection terms and arranging the electricity infrastructure needed for new projects. That could make it easier to carry the pledge into the rates and contracts applied to individual sites. However, the expansion would not create a national electricity rate, decide how shared grid-upgrade costs should be divided or replace state regulatory approval. No new tariff or connection rule has yet been announced.

For BTW readers, the key question is whether the utilities named in the final pledge use it when setting rates and connection terms for new data centres. Until then, the expansion remains a voluntary commitment rather than a change in how individual projects are charged.

What to watch

Watch for the final pledge text and the full list of utilities, developers and state officials supporting it. New large-load rates, utility filings and project agreements would show whether the pledge is being put into practice for data-centre power connections.