Trump's 'Voluntary' Pledge to Protect Ratepayers From Data Center Bills Is Signed by 23 Governors and 187 Companies — But Critics Call It the 'Wild West'

Trump Expands "Voluntary" Pledge to Protect Consumers From Data Center Utility Bills

SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS · BY JOSH BOAK & MATTHEW DALY · PUBLISHED JULY 2026

President Donald Trump on Thursday had 23 governors and 187 companies join a voluntary, nonbinding pledge to shield U.S. consumers from higher utility bills caused by data centers — a sign of how the artificial intelligence build-out has become a lightning rod of controversy ahead of the midterm elections.

The president first announced the "Ratepayer Protection Pledge" with leading AI and tech companies in March 2026. But that initial commitment has done little to comfort voters already grappling with affordability issues as they worry about competing for electricity, water, and land with tech companies controlled by billionaires.

"You Can't Fight It. You Have to Go With It."

Trump, in remarks about the pledge at the Environmental Protection Agency, called on the gathered executives and governors to sell the public on data centers, stressing that the cities and towns that host them will be "rich."

"You have to convince your community. You can't fight it. You have to go with it. If you don't take all that money, somebody else is going to take it. You might as well do it yourselves."
— President Donald Trump

The president promised that electricity prices would drop because of the pledge, saying there would be a surplus of power. It's not clear that data centers generating their own electricity will be sufficient to overcome the rising demand, but that did not deter Trump from insisting utility bills — a major concern for voters — will be lower.

"Electricity bills for American families will actually come down. They're going to have a lot of electricity left over, and they'll put that into the grid."
— President Donald Trump

Who Signed: 23 Governors, 187 Companies

The White House said the pledge has been signed by 23 governors (all Republican) and at least 187 companies, including 55 utilities and 27 data center developers.

Major utility signatories include: NextEra Energy, Duke Energy, American Electric Power, Southern Co., and Pacific Gas & Electric.

Data center developer signatories include: Equinix, Digital Realty, and Prologis.

Tech companies already committed to the pledge include: Google, Microsoft, Meta, Oracle, xAI, OpenAI, and Amazon.

Data center companies say their facilities help generate tax revenues for school districts and reduce property tax burdens for homeowners.

"The Wild West of Data Centers"

Despite the voluntary pledge, concerns about data centers cross party lines — and critics say a nonbinding commitment from the very companies profiting from the build-out is nowhere near enough.

"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."
— Critic quoted by the Associated Press

Already, dozens of state legislatures or utility commissions have moved to put in place requirements that data centers pay the cost of their electricity, including new power plants or transmission system upgrades.

In May 2026, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, signed a law that he said would prevent utilities from passing along energy costs from data centers to residential and small-business customers — going further than Trump's voluntary pledge by making it enforceable.

Tech Companies "Opposing Efforts at the State Level"

A key criticism is that the same companies signing the Ratepayer Protection Pledge are simultaneously lobbying against state-level rules that would force them to deliver on their promises.

"It is disappointing, but perhaps not surprising, that the same tech companies signing the Ratepayer Protection Pledge are simultaneously opposing efforts at the state level to force them to deliver on their promises."
— Industry critic quoted by the Associated Press

The PJM Problem

The White House on Thursday singled out PJM Interconnection — the nation's largest grid operator — for failing to implement a bipartisan statement of principles signed by the Trump administration and all 13 governors in the PJM region.

"The Trump administration strongly advises PJM and its member companies to proactively reform its stakeholder process, reform its board governance, and implement the Statement of Principles before it is too late."
— White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers

Efforts to Turn the Pledge Into Law

There are efforts to formalize Trump's pledge as law, with the House Energy and Commerce Committee approving a bipartisan bill. The bill would require data centers to bear the costs of grid upgrades — turning what is currently a voluntary promise into a legal obligation.

Why This Matters Here

This site exists to document the resistance to data center expansion — and this story captures the central tension of the current moment: a federal administration framing a voluntary, nonbinding pledge as protection for ordinary ratepayers, while the very companies signing it fight the state-level laws that would make those protections real.

As environmental advocate Erin Brockovich — who is tracking over 8,000 community reports of data center impacts nationwide at brockovichdatacenter.com — has warned: the people footing the bill are the ones least able to fight back. A pledge is not a law. A promise from billionaires is not accountability.

If you're living near a data center and worried about your utility bills, your water, or your health, submit your story to Brockovich's registry and to our own community forum. Documented community pressure is what turns voluntary pledges into enforceable law.

Sources & Citations

• • Associated Press — "Trump expands a voluntary pledge to protect consumers from high utility bills from AI data centers" (by Josh Boak & Matthew Daly; primary source)
• • NBC Washington (AP syndication) — full article text
• • The White House — Ratepayer Protection Pledge (March 4, 2026)
• • Brockovich Data Center Registry — Erin Brockovich's nationwide data center impact map

Source: Associated Press · By Josh Boak & Matthew Daly · Additional reporting by Marc Levy, Harrisburg, Pa.