The Digester

Trump says tech firms will sign pledge to fund power for AI data centers next week

Mar 20th 2026

President Trump said he secured a "rate payer protection pledge" with major tech companies for new AI data center power needs and that leaders may sign it on March 4, but details and enforceability are still unclear.

  • Trump said he negotiated a "rate payer protection pledge" requiring major tech firms to build, bring, or buy power for new AI data centers.
  • Fox News reports executives from Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft, xAI, Oracle and OpenAI are expected to attend a March 4 signing event.
  • The White House has released few details and offered no clear accountability or enforcement mechanisms for the pledge.
  • Some firms have already made voluntary commitments to fund local power projects, including Anthropic and Microsoft.
  • Meta signed a 15-year agreement to cover capital costs for three gas plants in Louisiana to power a large data center.
  • Agreements to support next generation nuclear exist but new reactors are generally not expected to come online before the 2030s.
  • Grid limits, gas turbine shortages, and local community pushback have caused delays and cancellations for many data center power projects.
  • Household electricity bills rose about 13 percent nationally in 2025, and the Department of Energy expects data center electricity demand to double or triple by 2028.

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