Summary President Trump will announce an expanded pledge aimed at preventing AI data centre electricity costs from increasing household power bills.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Donald Trump is expected to unveil an expanded Ratepayer Protection Pledge on Thursday, aimed at shielding American households from higher electricity costs driven by the rapid expansion of AI data centres.
The updated pledge builds on an initiative launched in March and is backed by governors, lawmakers, utility companies and data centre developers. It seeks to ensure companies building and operating AI data centres pay rates above standard electricity charges so that additional costs are not passed on to residential consumers.
Trump will be joined at the announcement by Energy Secretary Chris Wright, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin and several governors who supported the original pledge, according to a White House official.
The initiative comes as growing demand from AI infrastructure places increasing pressure on the U.S. electricity grid. Congestion costs on transmission lines within PJM Interconnection, the country's largest regional power grid serving 67 million people, rose 81% to $3.2 billion in 2025, while recent power auctions pushed electricity prices to record levels.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) is also expected to discuss the long-term challenges facing the PJM grid amid widening supply and demand imbalances.
Energy experts have warned that the current electricity system serves both households and large industrial users through the same network, creating delays for major customers and raising concerns that grid expansion could ultimately increase costs for residential consumers.
Data centre developers argue their investments are helping modernise the U.S. power grid and say rising electricity prices are also being driven by power plant retirements and transmission bottlenecks.
The White House said the non-binding pledge is expected to cover around 80% of the electricity supplied to homes and businesses across the United States.
