{"id":115429,"date":"2026-03-08T07:31:28","date_gmt":"2026-03-08T10:31:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tech.einnews.com\/article\/898035679"},"modified":"2026-03-08T07:31:28","modified_gmt":"2026-03-08T10:31:28","slug":"big-tech-signs-pledge-to-lower-energy-cost-near-data-centers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/2026\/03\/08\/big-tech-signs-pledge-to-lower-energy-cost-near-data-centers\/","title":{"rendered":"Big Tech Signs Pledge to Lower Energy Cost Near Data Centers"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>                           <title>Big Tech Signs Pledge to Lower Energy Cost Near Data Centers<\/title>  <!-- Tiny Rich Text Editor --> <!-- Load the site id in order to track the insider locales --> <!-- this will add webcomponent polyfills based on browsers. As of 04\/29\/21 still needed for IE11 and Safari --> <!-- Start of HubSpot Embed Code --> <!-- End of HubSpot Embed Code --> <!-- Google Tag Manager --> <!-- End Google Tag Manager --> <!-- OneTrust Cookies Consent Notice start for govtech.com --> <!-- OneTrust Cookies Consent Notice end for govtech.com --> <!-- Propensity tag (propensity_analytics.js) -->  <!-- Putting icons here, so we don't have to include in a bunch of -body hbs's --> <\/p>\n<div class=\"BrowserCompatibility\" data-dialogue data-show-on-internet-explorer data-show-dialogue>\n<div class=\"BrowserCompatibility-container\">\n<div class=\"BrowserCompatibility-body\">\n<h2 class=\"BrowserCompatibility-title\"> IE 11 Not Supported <\/h2>\n<div class=\"BrowserCompatibility-text RichTextBody\">\n<p>For optimal browsing, we recommend Chrome, Firefox or Safari browsers.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p> <!-- Microsite Header --> <\/p>\n<div class=\"Page-content\">\n<div class=\"Page-twoColumn\"> <main id=\"readArticle\" class=\"Page-main\" data-module data-padding=\"none\"> <\/p>\n<div class=\"ArticlePage-lede\">\n<div class=\"ArticlePage-lede-content\">\n<div class=\"Page-breadcrumbs\"> <a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.govtech.com\/products\" data-cms-ai=\"0\">Emerging Tech<\/a> <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<h2 class=\"Page-subHeadline\">Representatives from leading AI and tech companies signed an agreement Wednesday pledging to protect Americans from higher electricity prices due to data center expansion.<\/h2>\n<div class=\"ArticlePage-actions-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"Page-byline\">\n<p>March 06, 2026&nbsp;\u2022&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p> <!-- one off byline --><span class=\"ArticlePage-oneOffAuthors-author\">Bryn Dippold, Dayton Daily News<\/span> <\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<div class=\"Page-lead\">\n<figure class=\"Figure\">    <img data-opt-id=605246035  fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"Image\" alt=\"big tech_shutterstock_1532824832\" width=\"840\" height=\"438\" data-lazy-load=\"true\" src=\"https:\/\/erepublic.brightspotcdn.com\/dims4\/default\/b7c56f0\/2147483647\/strip\/true\/crop\/940x490+0+68\/resize\/840x438!\/quality\/90\/?url=http%3A%2F%2Ferepublic-brightspot.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com%2F50%2F94%2F0f03e08062507281c70a6560b726%2Fshutterstock-1532824832.jpg\">  <\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"Page-article\">\n<div class=\"Page-articleBody RichTextBody\"> (TNS) \u2014 Representatives from leading AI and tech companies signed an agreement Wednesday pledging to protect Americans from higher electricity prices due to data center expansion.<\/p>\n<p>President Donald Trump gathered leaders from Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft, OpenAI, Oracle and xAI to sign the Ratepayer Protection Pledge, which states these companies: \u2014 Agree to build, bring or buy new generation rescources \u2014 Cover the cost of all power delivery infrastructure upgrades \u2014 Negotiate separate rate structures with utility providers and state governments \u2014 Commit to pay these rates for power whether they use the electricity or not \u2014 Coordinate with grid operators to make backup generators available \u2014 Hire and train talent from within the communities where data centers are built<\/p>\n<p>The pledge was first announced in Trump&#8217;s Feb. 24 State of the Union address.<\/p>\n<p><span data-bsp-pv=\"4f8e492c-6f2f-390e-bc61-f176d3a37ab9\"><\/span><span data-bsp-pv=\"0000019c-c410-d703-a5bc-e41e47340000\"><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/main><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>U.S. Sen. and former Ohio Lt. Gov. Jon Husted joined Trump and U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright at the roundtable discussion Wednesday, saying, &#8220;In places like Ohio, this work matters.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>A Dayton Daily News and Journal-News investigation into data centers showed Ohio has the sixth largest number of data centers in the country, at 194, according to the Data Center Map. Virginia has the most with 568, followed by Texas, California, Illinois and Georgia.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;If America wants economic and national security dominance, we must lead in technology and AI to stay ahead of adversaries like China,&#8221; Husted said. &#8220;But, this innovation requires energy and Ohio families are concerned about the impact on their own bills.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Requiring companies to fund their own power protects working people from higher bills.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><b>The cost of data centers<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Massive data centers are proposed to be built across southwest Ohio. Our investigation looks at the cost and consequences of these power-hungry, water-thirsty, tax-supported facilities.<\/p>\n<p>Many of southwest Ohio&#8217;s existing data centers are relatively small. Data Center Map lists three in Dayton owned by Lumen \u2014 formerly CenturyLink \u2014 including some inside office towers.<\/p>\n<p>But the growth of the tech and artificial intelligence industries is creating the need for sprawling centers the size of business parks with power and water needs rivaling entire municipalities. Projects are proposed in Springfield, Hamilton, Wilmington, Trenton, Piqua and Sydney.<\/p>\n<p>Rising electric costs are one of the biggest concerns from local residents about these incoming data centers.<\/p>\n<p>A recent study by Charles River Associates, a global consulting firm, showed data centers are partly to blame for rising electric costs across the region.<\/p>\n<p>The study released in February found that most areas in the United States have experienced stable electricity rates, and data centers have generally not caused retail rate increases.<\/p>\n<p>The one exception was parts of the PJM region where capacity price increases were driven partly by data center demand, according to the study.<\/p>\n<p>PJM is a massive regional transmission organization that manages the electric grid and wholesale electricity market across Ohio and several other states.<\/p>\n<p>PJM&#8217;s benchmark capacity price increased by 833% between the 2024-2025 and 2025-2026 delivery years. Even after regulatory intervention that lowered price caps, PJM&#8217;s prices increased by an additional 22% for the 2026-2027 delivery year, which will affect future rates, according to the study.<\/p>\n<p>A key factor in this increase was the surge in data center demand expected in the PJM region, which increased PJM&#8217;s projected capacity needs.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a9 <i>2026 the Dayton Daily News (Dayton, Ohio). Distributed by <\/i><a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tribunecontentagency.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" data-cms-ai=\"0\">Tribune Content Agency, LLC.<\/a> <\/p>\n<p> <!-- Contributors --> <\/p>\n<aside class=\"Page-aside\"> <\/aside>\n<div class=\"Newsletter-container\">\n<p> Never miss a story with the GovTech Today newsletter. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>  <button class=\"GoogleDfpMobileAd-close\" data-close>  <\/button>    <\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/blockads.fivefilters.org\"> <\/a><\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/blockads.fivefilters.org\/acceptable.html\"> <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8230; ) \u00e2\u0080\u0094 Representatives from leading AI and <span class=\"match\">tech<\/span> companies signed an agreement Wednesday pledging &#8230; dominance, we must lead in <span class=\"match\">technology<\/span> and AI to stay ahead &#8230; office towers. But the growth of the <span class=\"match\">tech<\/span> and artificial intelligence industries is &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-115429","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","wpcat-1-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115429","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=115429"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115429\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=115429"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=115429"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=115429"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}