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The Pledge and Paperwork

Jan Gunash · November 1, 2026

The Pledge and Paperwork

In March, seven of the largest AI companies promised that data centers will pay their own way. Over the next two weeks, two sets of documents begin to answer who checks that promise and what happens when it and the bill disagree. One is a deadline for the six US grid operators that FERC ordered to justify or rewrite their rules for very large loads. The other is a covenant published in the UK Budget that attaches conditions to government help for data centers. Both move the promise out of a press release and into the rules that decide who pays.


A Promise That Needs a Reader

The Ratepayer Protection Pledge, signed in March by Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft, OpenAI, Oracle and xAI, said the companies would pay full energy and infrastructure costs for their data centers. Consumer Reports surveyed 2,082 US adults in May and found that 75 percent were not too confident or not at all confident that the companies will follow through, while 4 percent were very confident (source: Consumer Reports). Asked what would raise their confidence, 47 percent named laws and regulations requiring companies to meet the pledge, ahead of government verification at 22 percent and transparency on energy costs and utility agreements at 20 percent (source: Consumer Reports). A separate Consumer Reports survey in November 2025 found that 78 percent of adults were at least somewhat concerned that data centers would raise their household energy bills (source: Consumer Reports).


The Filing Date That Moved

The rules those respondents have in mind are being written now. FERC issued show cause orders to all six US regional grid operators on June 18 under Section 206 of the Federal Power Act, finding their tariffs unjust and unreasonable for large loads. The operators must justify the existing rules or propose reforms in five areas: application and study processes, cost transparency and cost shifting protections, co-location, flexible large loads paired with behind the meter generation, and electrically proximate load (source: mGrid). The original deadline was August 17, and all six operators asked for roughly 90 more days, which moved substantive filings to November 16 (source: mGrid).

The second item on that list is where a household feels the result. A tariff decides whether the cost of connecting a very large customer is assigned to that customer or spread across every account on the system. The filings due in two weeks will show how each region proposes to draw that line.


A Covenant Across the Atlantic

On October 28, the UK government published its Data Centre Covenant alongside the Budget. It sets five groups of tests that all data centers are encouraged to meet and that strategic data centers must meet to qualify for additional government action, with the definition of strategic still to come (source: GOV.UK). The first test addresses bills directly, saying operators should pay the energy costs they create so households and other businesses do not bear them, and make credible commitments for the grid capacity they request (source: GOV.UK). Other tests ask for a Local Benefit Plan agreed with the local community, annual energy and water reporting, a power usage effectiveness of 1.3 or better for new facilities, and reuse of waste heat where a viable local user exists (source: GOV.UK).


In return, strategic sites can receive help with the slowest part of any data center project. The government plans to reserve and reallocate grid connections, including capacity released when other projects leave the connections queue, and to run a tightly controlled framework for temporary on-site generation until a grid connection arrives (source: GOV.UK). The government puts its estimate of the AI data center capacity the country needs at 6 gigawatts by 2030 (source: GOV.UK). Legal commentators note that the definition of strategic is still open and that developers will want more detail on how the grid powers will shorten connection times (source: Pinsent Masons).


What the Two Approaches Share

The US and UK documents take different routes to the same place. The US pledge is a voluntary commitment from companies, and the FERC filings turn the question into tariff language that regulators can enforce. The UK covenant makes the bill protection one of the conditions for support that operators want, which ties the protection to support that operators want. In both cases the promise gains force from a document with a date and a regulator attached. The Consumer Reports numbers suggest the public is asking for the same thing, since the most popular route to confidence was a legal requirement.


We have uploaded the location data for nearly 1,500 operating US data centers to Panthaion. You can explore the dataset directly to see where the facilities these tariffs will apply to already sit.


What This Means If You Pay an Electricity Bill

The pledge made in March does not appear on a bill. What appears on a bill is a rate, and rates come from tariffs and rate cases. The filings due November 16 are the first place where a region has to say in writing how it will keep the cost of connecting very large customers from landing on everyone else. If you live in one of those regions, the useful thing to watch is the cost transparency and cost shifting section of your grid operator's filing, and whether your state regulator or utility later adopts it. In the UK, the equivalent question is how the government defines a strategic data center and whether the bill test is written as a requirement.


What to Watch Next

The six grid operators file with FERC on or before November 16. After that comes FERC's review of what each region has proposed. In the UK, the definition of strategic data centers and the further criteria are still to be set (source: GOV.UK). Between them, those two decisions will show whether a promise to pay your own way can be written in a form that holds.

Want to contribute your thoughts or findings in data and AI with climate, energy, or nature? You can find every past edition of Data in Energy at panthaion.org. Send us a DM or email to vmarsland@projectcoeus.com.


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