White House hails pledge that seeks to shield consumers from the cost of energy for data centres as ‘historic’.
Published On ۲۳ Jul ۲۰۲۶۲۳ Jul ۲۰۲۶
US President Donald Trump’s administration has said it will expand a voluntary pledge seeking to shield consumers from the energy costs of the rapid expansion of data centres, mostly used by artificial intelligence companies.
The White House announced on Thursday that it would add state governors and electricity companies to the agreement, first announced with tech and AI firms in March. But the US administration stopped short of any enforceable protections.
Recommended Stories
list of ۳ itemsend of list
The White House called the expansion of the pledge “historic”, saying ۲۰۰ additional utilities, data centre developers and states would join it.
The pledge is a “public commitment that hyperscalers, AI companies, and the utilities and data-center developers behind them will build, bring, or buy every kilowatt their facilities need — and cover every dollar of the infrastructure that delivers it”.
It says consumers would not foot the bill for AI’s energy needs.
In remarks about the pledge at the Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday, Trump called on the gathered executives and governors to sell the public on data centres, stressing that the cities and towns that have them will be “rich.”
“You have to convince your community. You can’t fight it. You have to go with it,” Trump said.
“If you don’t take all that money, somebody else is going to take it. You might as well do it yourselves.”
The US president has been a strong advocate for AI, which has become an enormous source of investment and a key priority for the country’s powerful tech sector. Trump has approached the sector, which includes some of his close allies, with a light regulatory touch during his second term.
But increased electricity demand from AI data centres could spur an increase in monthly utility bills between ۱۵ and ۴۰ percent by the year ۲۰۳۰, according to an analysis by the consulting and technology services company ICF.
A May Gallup poll suggested that seven out of ۱۰ people in the US oppose the construction of AI data centres in their area, with about ۴۸ percent saying they were strongly opposed. Slightly more than ۲۵ percent said they favoured such efforts, with only ۷ percent saying they strongly favoured them.
Concerns over the impact of such centres on the cost of utilities, such as electricity and water, are commonly cited as reasons for opposition, along with quality of life concerns and scepticism about the benefits of AI.
Some elections across the country have seen AI data centre construction emerge as a prominent issue, but the industry has pushed forward with plans to rapidly scale up infrastructure for the technology.
A poll from Johns Hopkins University in June suggested that Americans strongly favour greater regulation of AI, and about ۶۰ percent of respondents said they expected AI to increase inequality over the next decade.
Four in ۱۰ respondents said that AI companies stand to increase their power the most from the expansion of the technology, while just one in ۱۰ said that individuals would gain the most.
