Washington, DC – A Consumer Reports nationally representative survey of 2,082 US adults in May 2026 found that a large majority of Americans are skeptical of promises that large data center developers have made to pay the full cost associated with the energy needed to supply their facilities. In March 2026, seven major artificial intelligence companies (Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft, OpenAI, Oracle, and xAI) signed a pledge at the White House called the Ratepayer Protection Pledge. The pledge stated that companies would pay the full cost of energy and infrastructure needed to supply their facilities “no matter what.”
When asked about these commitments, which we described as “a group of large tech companies that use data centers recently promis[ing] to pay all costs associated with the energy needed to supply the data centers they use,” 75% of Americans said they were “not too confident” or “not at all confident” that companies will follow through on these promises. Majorities of both Democrats and Republicans remained skeptical of the pledge, with 83% of Democrats and 67% of Republicans lacking confidence in it. Overall, only 4% of Americans said they were “very confident” that companies would follow through on their commitments.
“Energy costs for Americans are skyrocketing across the country and many are skeptical about recent pledges made by big tech companies to take on the full costs of developing and operating AI data centers,” said Chris Harto, manager, sustainability advocacy at Consumer Reports. “Promises alone do not appear sufficient to assuage American’s very legitimate concerns about these large, energy intensive facilities being built in their communities as their electricity bills continue to rise. Companies need to demonstrate that they are paying their own way, not passing on the bill to everyday Americans.”
Another nationally representative CR survey, this one of 2,146 US adults in November 2025, found that 78% of Americans were at least somewhat concerned that their household’s energy bills would increase because of new data centers being built across the country.
When asked about actions that would give them the most confidence that tech companies would deliver on their promise, Americans most frequently chose laws and regulations that require companies to meet it (47%). Other options with less support included government (22%) or non-profit groups (22%) verifying that companies were living up to the pledge, transparency on energy costs and utility agreements (20%), and companies providing annual reports on energy use and costs (20%). Sixteen percent of Americans said that nothing would increase their confidence that the companies would keep their commitment.
“What we see from this data is a significant trust gap between people and the technology companies building these massive data centers,” said Evan Feeney, associate director of corporate engagement at Consumer Reports. “Americans are skeptical that voluntary promises alone will protect them from higher electricity bills. Bridging that trust gap will require real accountability from the companies. That means enforceable commitments, transparent contracts, and independent verification that ensure the costs of powering data centers are borne by the companies driving demand—not by families already struggling with rising utility bills.”
More than 26,000 consumers nationwide have signed a Consumer Reports petition urging state leaders and utility regulators to lower electricity bills and ensure that large new energy users, like data centers, pay their fair share. The organization is also continuing to collect stories from residents near data centers who are facing rising energy costs
It is reported that the House Energy and Commerce Committee will vote on a suite of bills including the “Ratepayer Protection Act” on Wednesday.
Contact: cyrus.rassool@consumer.org