President Donald Trump plans to use his 2026 State of the Union address to highlight **new data center energy agreements** with major tech firms that are intended to address rising electricity demand tied to AI infrastructure. The administration has been negotiating **“ratepayer protection” pledges** under which companies such as Microsoft, Google, OpenAI, Amazon, and Meta would publicly commit to ensuring that their expanding, energy-hungry data centers won’t drive up grid costs for households and will shoulder the costs of needed power and infrastructure — including potentially higher electricity rates in host communities. These pacts are voluntary and non-binding, but the White House sees them as a policy lever to manage affordability concerns and grid reliability as AI-related power demand grows. The push comes amid broader efforts by the administration to involve utilities and grid operators in creating new power supplies for data centers, as well as sustained political pressure over how rapid data center expansion affects energy markets and consumer prices.