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President Trump and major tech and AI firms signed a proclamation yesterday at the White House in which they pledged that the cost of new electricity generation for data centers would not be passed on to American consumers (Reuters, subscription).

The background: President Trump had announced the proclamation, called the “Ratepayer Protection Pledge,” in his State of the Union Address, and it is intended to reduce local opposition to planned data centers.

• Google, Microsoft, Meta, Oracle, xAI, OpenAI and Amazon all signed on.

Trump says: “This means that the tech companies and the data centers will be able to get the electricity they need, all without driving up electricity costs for consumers,” ​the president said at the signing event.

• “This is a historic win for countless American families, and we’ll also make our electricity grid ​stronger and more resilient than ever before.”

Digging deeper: The proclamation states  that AI and tech companies will fully fund the new energy production and infrastructure required for new data centers and promises that “data centers’ energy needs will not increase household electricity costs for American citizens.”

• These companies are also expected to negotiate new and independent rate structures with their local utilities and state governments, while making investments in their surrounding communities and contributing to the reliability of the grid overall.
• Last, the pledge emphasizes that the data center buildout in the U.S. will employ many Americans in a “wide array” of roles.

NAM in action: The NAM has led the effort to shape policy that supports data center construction, advocating for and praising the administration’s moves to bolster America’s technological dominance and its lead in the global AI race. It released an influential policy blueprint, “ Manufacturing’s Roadmap to AI and Energy Dominance,” last fall.

• The NAM’s advocacy for AI development has always been coupled with its push for energy dominance. As it pointed out in the roadmap, manufacturers need to be able to produce and use every energy source available to meet this critical moment.

The last word: “The domestic development and deployment of AI is foundational to manufacturing’s future success and is critical to ensuring American competitiveness against China,” said NAM Vice President of Domestic Policy Chris Phalen.

• “As users of, suppliers to and creators of data center and AI infrastructure, manufacturers continue to support an all-of-the-above energy strategy and commend the administration and the companies involved for working creatively to address the challenges and opportunity of energy dominance. The NAM will continue to lead the way to deliver real solutions that benefit all energy users and developers in America.”