AI Power Pledge Grows to 220 Signatories – But Will Your Electricity Bill Actually Drop?

A 75.5% spike in power costs across the country’s largest electricity region. A $2 billion grid upgrade bill dropped on Maryland residents — for AI data centers located in other states. These are the real numbers behind AI’s growing appetite for electricity, according to PJM Interconnection’s independent market monitor, as reported by Tom’s Hardware. The White House response? A voluntary pledge that now carries over 220 signatories promising your bill won’t go up.

The Expansion, By the Numbers

Twenty-three Republican governors, major utilities, and data center developers all signed on in July, according to USA Today.

The original March pledge brought Google, Amazon, Meta, Microsoft, Oracle, OpenAI, and xAI to the table. The July expansion added NextEra Energy, Duke Energy, American Electric Power, Southern Co., PG&E, and developers like Equinix and Digital Realty, according to Associated Press reporting. The White House claims this coalition now covers power delivery to 263 million Americans. The core promise: data center operators will “build, bring, or buy” every kilowatt they need.

What signatories are reportedly committing to:

Paying the full cost of new generation and grid infrastructure their facilities require

Accepting higher rate structures than residential customers

Freezing consumer electric rates for at least five years in some deals

Funding emergency wholesale electricity auctions projected to generate over $15 billion for new generation capacity

“Big Tech companies are committing to fully cover the cost of increased electricity production required for AI data centers — and that would mean prices for American communities will not go up, but in many cases, will actually come down,” Trump stated at the signing, according to the White House release.

Where Real Protections Are Actually Being Built

Oregon’s enforceable law has already shifted costs away from households; the federal pledge hasn’t moved the needle.

Harvard’s Ari Peskoe put it blun…