US President Donald Trump has announced a mandate requiring new artificial intelligence (AI) data centres to build their own on-site power plants. The move, framed as a "Ratepayer Protection Pledge," aims to shield American consumers from higher electricity bills driven by soaring AI industry demand.
The announcement was made during Tuesday's State of the Union address. A White House spokesperson confirmed that major technology companies will join the President next week to formally sign the pledge, committing them to "build, bring, or buy their own power supply" for new AI data centres.
Industry Backs Pledge Amid Surging Power Demand
Several leading tech firms have signalled support. A spokesperson for Amazon confirmed its attendance at the White House event. Microsoft vice chair and president Brad Smith stated the pledge was "an important step" to ensure data centres don't contribute to higher consumer prices.
Anthropic committed to covering "100% of electricity price increases that consumers face from data centres," according to a post by the company's head of external affairs, Sarah Heck. Microsoft, Anthropic, and OpenAI have previously announced similar, though less detailed, commitments.
On-Site Plants Become Key Strategy
Building private, "behind-the-meter" power plants has emerged as a critical strategy for data centre developers in the last year. This approach can bypass long grid connection wait times and secure power for energy-intensive AI operations.
A report this month from Cleanview, a firm tracking energy and data centre projects, found that dozens of US data centres—about 30% of all planned national capacity—plan to build their own plants. Nearly 90% of this planned capacity was added in 2025.
Fossil Fuels Dominate Current Plans
Despite corporate clean energy goals, the immediate buildout is heavily reliant on fossil fuels. Cleanview's review of permit documents found that natural gas powers 75% of all listed behind-the-meter equipment.
Notable projects include Meta's planned natural gas plant for its data centre in New Albany, Ohio, and Oracle and OpenAI's plan to power their Project Jupiter site in New Mexico with two large natural gas-fired systems. Elon Musk's xAI has deployed unpermitted mobile generators in Tennessee and Mississippi to quickly launch operations.
Texas Leads in Behind-the-Meter Development
Cleanview's analysis indicates more than one-third of this private power plant buildout is happening in Texas, positioning it to overtake Virginia as the global data centre capital. Other top states for planned capacity are New Mexico, Pennsylvania, Utah, and Wyoming.
The push comes as US power demand hits record highs. Utilities sought approval for $31 billion in rate increases last year, more than double the 2024 amount, with many requests in data centre hotspots like Virginia and Texas.
Long-Term Clean Tech Ambitions
Technology companies have stated ambitions to eventually power AI with cleaner technologies like small modular nuclear reactors and geothermal energy. However, these solutions are acknowledged to be years away from large-scale deployment, leaving natural gas as the dominant near-term fuel for the AI boom's power needs.