In response to growing concerns that the artificial intelligence boom will hike our electricity bills, major utility companies and data center developers in the US have signed President Donald Trump's 'rate payer protection pledge'. The promise, however, is as vague as it is unenforceable.

Eighty percent of American homes and businesses are now covered by signatories like NextEra Energy, Duke Energy, Equinix, and Digital Realty. But with no teeth in the agreement and energy prices set by state regulators, consumers might be asking: has anything really changed?

The pledge, introduced in March, aims for AI providers to fund new infrastructure costs for training and running generative models. Yet, some data center projects have already been scaled back or blocked due to backlash, and the biggest US electrical grid operator, PJM, is now facing an additional $6.3 billion cost for 13 states.

While Trump touts this as a PR win, energy companies are merely trying to dodge public ire. For now, the pledge remains more of a symbolic gesture than a concrete solution.