Data Center

President Trump Issues ‘Rate Payer Protection Pledge’ Proclamation

Experts have said data centers are being added significantly faster than capacity is likely to catch up

Eric Urbach

Mar 6, 2026 — 2 min read

Photo of President Donald Trump holding up the signed Ratepayer Protection Pledge, Wednesday, March 4, 2026, in Washington. by Jacquelyn Martin/AP

WASHINGTON, March 6, 2026 – Flanked by executives of some of the largest tech companies in the United States, President Trump signed the “Rate Payer Protection Pledge” proclamation on Wednesday, signaling an attempt at addressing affordability concerns for rate payers.

First announced at his State of the Union speech, the pledge aims to prevent electricity rate hikes for ratepayers as data centers come onto the grid by requiring hyperscalers and tech companies to provide their own on site energy and pay for necessary infrastructure upgrades to the grid.

“It’s going to have a tremendous impact on electricity costs, we’re going to bring down all of the costs,” Trump said. “Under this new agreement big tech companies are committing to fully cover the costs of increased electricity production at AI data centers.”