80% of US utilities vow to absorb AI's energy bill — but can they?

nearly 200 utility companies and data center developers, representing 80% of us power delivery, signed the white house's "rate payer protection pledge" to prevent ai energy demands from raising consumer electricity bills. signatories including nextera energy and duke energy joined tech leaders like openai and microsoft in promising to front infrastructure costs, but the pledge is voluntary with no penalties for non-compliance. this move comes as public backlash blocks projects and grid operator pjm projects $6.3 billion in added consumer costs, highlighting the growing tension between ai infrastructure and energy regulation.