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Trump meets tech giants to sign energy pledge ahead of midterms

US President Donald Trump meets with leaders of major technology companies on March 4, 2026, including Google, Meta META.O and OpenAI, to formalize a pledge aimed at protecting consumers from rising electricity costs tied to the rapid expansion of energy‑intensive data centers. Trump said the 'Ratepayer Protection Pledge,' announced by him in his State of the Union Address, would see tech firms commit to measures designed to ensure the boom in artificial intelligence infrastructure, which does not translate into higher utility bills for households and small businesses. Google, Microsoft, Meta, Oracle, xAI, OpenAI, and Amazon will sign the pledge, a White House official said. The initiative is being launched ahead of the November midterm elections, with voters increasingly concerned about energy affordability and the increased strain on the country's power grids from data centers. The pledges included a commitment by technology companies to bring or buy electricity supplies for their data centers, either from new power plants or existing plants with expanded output capacity.

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Transcript
00:02Well, thank you very much. These are exciting times.
00:05AI, red light cap, and we did that too all within the first year.
00:11Under this new agreement, big tech companies are committing to fully cover the cost of increased electricity production required for
00:19AI data centers.
00:21And that would be prices for American communities will not go up, but in many cases will actually come down
00:30and very substantially.
00:32Because, you know, the data centers and you people are so big as you're the biggest in the world, but
00:37they've developed a little bit of a bad public.
00:41They have they need some PR help because people think that if a data center goes in, their electricity prices
00:48are going to go up.
00:49And that's not happening. It's not going to happen. And for the areas where it did happen, it won't happen
00:54anymore.
00:55And it was sort of love at first sight. He has done some job and so has Doug.
01:00By 2035, energy demand is expected to more than triple.
01:04Under the rate payer protection pledge we're signing today, the big tech companies are making five important commitments to keep
01:12utility prices down for American consumers.
01:15First, these companies are committing to provide or pay for all power generation and electricity needed for their AI projects,
01:25which is massive.
01:26And where possible, they'll add capacity to the grid by building new power stations.
01:31So they're going to be making their own electricity. They're not going to be taking from the grid.
01:36And they will actually probably based on what I'm seeing, they're building over capacity and they'll be able to sell
01:43that over capacity at very low prices into the grid.
01:47In addition to that, we're fixing the grid. Now, if we we thought you were kidding. Are you serious? You
01:53really they couldn't believe it.
01:55Second, they'll cover the costs of upgrading existing power delivery infrastructure and their energy demand as it requires further investment.
02:04So they'll be upgrading existing power delivery infrastructure.
02:09They will third negotiate separate rate structures with utilities to clearly and cleanly assign them to the costs of new
02:18capacity investments and commit to paying even if they do not end up using all of that electricity.
02:25They're going to make a commitment. A little bit of a bad public. They have they need some PR help
02:31side of the area.
02:32And fourth, they'll invest in the local communities where they build and operate, provide workforce development and jobs for skilled
02:40Americans like those with us today.
02:43We have great, great skilled people, electricians, engineers, HVAC technicians, server and network technicians, power plant workers, plumbers, welders and
02:54many others.
02:55There's all people that I've hired all my life. I've been hiring you guys and you've done a great job.
03:00I've built a lot of buildings, a lot of good ones.
03:03And finally, they will use their infrastructure to contribute back up power to local grids during times of need.
03:10An actual copy of the ratepayer protection pledge, committing them to your vision for this industry going forward.
03:16Pretty good. Right. And let me say to the press, thank you so much for being here was fantastic.
03:23After the pledges are signed, if we can have you move out of the room as quickly as you can
03:27so we can do a little bit of business.
03:29But thank you for being here at this thing. And as you heard, the summary of the Trump agenda is
03:34lower prices, higher wages.
03:36Okay, you got it done.
04:06Okay, I'm good.
04:07Okay.
04:08Okay.
04:09And then I can take your facade.
04:13Okay, I got it.
04:13Hi, guys.
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