What the big ‘urgency’ in Microsoft, Anthropic and OpenAI’s electricity pledge shows
Three of the world’s biggest AI companies made nearly identical promises within 30 days. Microsoft kicked things off on January 13, pledging to cover the full electricity costs of its data centres. OpenAI followed on January 21. Anthropic joined on February 11. Same playbook. Same month. The reason? A White House draft compact, obtained by Politico, reveals the Trump administration is preparing a voluntary agreement that would require AI companies to pay 100% of new power generation costs tied to their data centres. The companies aren’t leading—they’re getting ahead of the announcement while they still get to set the terms.
Data centre power demand could triple by 2028, and consumers are already paying
The numbers behind this rush are stark. Lawrence Berkeley National Lab found data centres consumed 4.4% of US electricity in 2024 and could hit 12% by 2028. Carnegie Mellon researchers estimated this demand surge could push electricity generation prices up by 25% in data centre-heavy markets by 2030. Consumers on the largest US grid, PJM Interconnection, face a $16.6 billion bill from 2025 through 2027 just to secure future power supply for these facilities.That kind of math turns into a political problem fast. And it already has.
Data centre electricity costs are now an election issue in the US
New York state senators introduced a bill to pause data centre permits entirely. Senator Van Hollen pushed legislation requiring AI companies to cover expansion costs. Virginia’s new governor campaigned specifically on making data centres pay their own way. When elected officials build campaigns around your energy footprint, voluntary pledges start looking like a survival strategy.AEP Ohio offered a preview of what forced accountability looks like. When the utility required data centres to pay 85% of claimed capacity upfront, speculative requests dropped by more than half—from 26 GW to 13 GW. Real financial commitment filtered out projects that were never serious to begin with.
The pledges sound generous—until you see the alternative
Microsoft said it would pay full property taxes and refuse local tax breaks. OpenAI promised to fund grid upgrades for its Stargate data centres. Anthropic committed to covering 100% of interconnection costs. All three said they’d cut power usage during demand peaks.It reads like corporate responsibility. But the alternative was legislation forcing all of it anyway—plus permit freezes, exit fees, and binding capacity contracts.The AI industry didn’t suddenly discover civic duty. It discovered a closing window. And it jumped through before someone else shut it.
