Trump’s Ratepayer Protection Pledge is a Pinky Swear That Doesn’t Solve Electricity Issues

Electric transmission line, western Oregon. Photo: Jeffrey St. Clair.

During the State of the Union, Trump called on tech companies to sign a “ratepayer protection pledge” to shield consumers from higher electricity prices driven by AI data centers. And last week, several executives from these companies — including Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft, xAI, Oracle, and OpenAI  — gathered at the White House to sign the pledge. But what does this all actually mean for consumers?

Trump himself...