FACT CHECK: Trump’s Data Center “Pledge” is Another Empty Promise

WASHINGTON, DC – In his State of the Union address, Trump announced the new
“Rate Payer Protection Pledge,” that companies need to voluntarily choose to adhere to, in a pathetic attempt to make up for his disastrous policies that have raised costs and skyrocketed energy demands. Meanwhile, billionaires like Elon Musk still have a blank check to run up utility bills to power their data centers, at the expense of the American people. The truth is, the American people support data centers when powered by clean energy, but strongly oppose them if they are powered by coal and gas, as Trump is demanding — polluting our air and water while keeping utility costs sky high. So here’s the truth:

FACT: Electricity prices spiked by up to 13% in communities nationwide, with the average U.S. household paying $116 more on its electricity bills in 2025 than it did in 2024.

FACT: Data centers planned or already under construction were expected to add 93 GW of electricity demand to the grid by 2029, accounting for over 14% of total U.S. power demand.  

FACT: By 2030, peak grid demand is forecast to reach 166 GW, six times higher than what was forecast three years ago. AI data centers could cause a 70% increase in electric bills by 2029 due to increased demand.

FACT: Trump’s attacks on clean energy have already taken nearly 25 GW of planned generation off the grid, and Trump’s clean energy cuts are anticipated to take another 340 GW, handicapping cheaper, faster clean energy projects that would help meet data centers’ energy needs.

FACT: Tech companies specifically lobbied against the clean energy cuts in the Republican budget bill, saying “energy is the pacing challenge of our industry.”

FACT: Solar energy, onshore wind, battery storage, and energy efficiency are some of the most rapidly scalable and cost-competitive ways to meet the increased energy demand from data centers.

FACT: Clean energy is the least expensive and quickest power source to add to the grid – in the first half of 2025, solar and wind energy generation outpaced electricity demand and generated more power than coal for the first time on record.

FACT: Costs for wind and solar have fallen by 54% and 84% over the past 15 years, making them cheaper than new gas and existing coal plants, even without subsidies.

FACT: Data from Climate Power and Blue Rose Research shows that Americans are significantly more likely to support the construction of a data center if it’s powered by clean energy (+25pp in favor) as opposed to fossil fuels (-16pp underwater).