A concurrent resolution expressing the sense of Congress that the Ratepayer Protection Pledge announced on March 4, 2026, reflects sound national policy to protect ratepayers in the United States, promote electricity affordability, and ensure that all people of the United States, including households, small businesses, schools, hospitals, and farms, have access to reliable and affordable energy as artificial intelligence and data center infrastructure expands across the United States.

This measure is a concurrent resolution, which means it expresses Congress’s views but does not change law by itself. It focuses on how fast-growing artificial intelligence and data center facilities affect electricity use and power bills across the country. The resolution notes that data centers already use a significant share of U.S. electricity and may use much more in the next few years. It points out that, under normal utility rules, the cost of new power lines, substations, and related grid upgrades for large customers can be spread across all customers. In practice, this can mean that households and small businesses help pay for infrastructure that mainly serves large, well‑funded companies. It describes a "Ratepayer Protection Pledge" signed on March 4, 2026, by several major technology and AI companies. Under that pledge, the companies agree to work out special rate structures with utilities and state governments wherever they build data centers. They commit to pay for the power generation and delivery infrastructure whether or not they end up using all of the electricity, creating a "pay‑whether‑used" obligation. The resolution states that this pledge reflects sound national policy based on the idea that the general public should not have to pay for private data center energy and infrastructure costs. It says the boom in AI data centers should be used to help address electricity affordability and benefit all households and businesses. It further states that federal agencies like the Department of Energy and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission should help carry out the pledge. This includes working with private companies to speed up permitting and grid interconnection for new energy generation resources. Finally, the resolution encourages more AI companies, hyperscalers, data center operators, and technology firms that have not signed the pledge to voluntarily make similar commitments.