Americans, White House wants you to know it is negotiating with Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Meta and others to keep your electricity bills down

The White House plans to make data center and artificial intelligence companies including Google, Microsoft, Anthropic, Amazon and Meta Platforms take a vow that they will foot their energy bills.

The deal likely to be announced next month aims to shield American consumers from rising electricity costs. Earlier this week, President Donald Trump said that he was negotiating pledges from major tech companies to pay a greater share of the energy costs associated with new data centers. Trump made an announcement on the same during his State of the Union speech on Tuesday, February 24. “We’re telling the major tech companies they have the obligation to provide for their own power needs and can build their own power plants so no one’s prices will go up,” Trump said.

He called it a “ratepayer protection pledge.”The tech companies expected to appear with Trump next week include Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft, xAI, Oracle and OpenAI, according to a White House official. According to a report in Bloomberg, Representatives of firms including Amazon.com Inc., Meta Platforms Inc., Microsoft Corp. and Google parent Alphabet Inc. are expected to attend a March 4 event with the president.

Others on the invite list include Elon Musk’s xAI Corp.

, Oracle Corp. and OpenAI Inc. The pledge under discussion is likely to be similar to commitments already offered by Microsoft to invest in new electricity generation and efficiency measures. "We appreciate the Administration’s work to ensure that data centers don’t contribute to higher electricity prices for consumers," said Brad Smith, Microsoft's Vice Chair and President recently.

The company did not say whether it would be in attendance next week or whether it would sign any new pledge.Yet the new pledges suggest that the big data center companies, known as “hyperscalers,” are scrambling to avoid a backlash. At least 25 proposed data centers were canceled last year after protests by nearby communities, according to research by Heatmap, a climate news site.“Under this bold initiative, these massive companies will build, bring, or buy their own power supply for new AI data centers, ensuring that Americans’ electricity bills will not increase as demand grows,” White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers told CNBC.

What makes the task bit tough for Trump government

The Trump administration has closely embraced the AI industry as an engine of economic growth and a pillar of US national security. It is so far even against any kind of regulation of AI industry, with the aim to ensure that the company does not fall behind China in AI race.

Why consumers are worried about increase in electricity bills

Data centers are facing opposition in communities across the U.S. as people blame rising utility bills on the facilities’ huge electricity consumption.

In just the past year, data centers running AI have started using much more electricity. These centers can reportedly consume up to 30 times more power than traditional data centers. Most of them are connected to the same grid that serves homes and businesses, which means the cost of that power growth is shared by everyone.

White House warns tech companies

The Trump administration has reportedly warned the tech companies that they risk a backlash if the public believes their data centers are driving up energy costs. Energy Secretary Chris Wright told reporters, “We want to see data centers developed.” He further added, “We want to see them rapidly sited. We want to see communities welcoming them, but to do that, it’s necessary to have up front investments in the additional grid infrastructure needed.

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