The AI Power Update Feb 23 - March 1, 2026

The ratepayer protection question got an answer this week.

Mar 02, 2026

Trump Announces “Ratepayer Protection Pledge” at State of the Union

At Tuesday’s State of the Union, President Trump unveiled the “Ratepayer Protection Pledge,” a commitment by major technology companies to fund their own electricity needs rather than passing costs onto utility customers. Energy Secretary Chris Wright confirmed that “all the brand-name hyperscalers” have signed on, covering companies including Google, Microsoft, and Amazon. Anthropic separately committed to covering 100% of electricity cost increases its data centers cause for residential customers. Trump told the audience no electricity prices would rise from AI data centers and that “in many cases, energy prices will go down.”

The pledge has no enforcement mechanism. Energy experts quickly called it “meaningless” without binding legal force. What it does signal clearly: the White House understands that AI’s electricity costs are becoming a political liability, and it wants Big Tech on record as the responsible party.

Watch whether Trump follows with an executive order that gives these commitments actual legal weight, or whether legislators at every level decide voluntary pledges are not enough. (Axios)

Amazon Commits $12 Billion to Louisiana Data Centers

Amazon announced a $12 billion investment to build data center campuses across Caddo and Bossier Parishes in northwest Louisiana, creating 540 direct jobs and roughly 1,700 additional positions in the region. The company pledged to cover 100% of costs for new energy infrastructure and grid upgrades needed to serve the facilities, working with utility Southwestern Electric Power Company (SWEPCO), with no costs passed to ratepayers. Amazon also committed $400 million to local water infrastructure to avoid straining municipal supplies. (GeekWire)

Google and Xcel Energy Announce 1.9 GW Clean Energy Deal with World’s Largest Battery

Google and Xcel Energy announced a 1.9 gigawatt clean energy package for a new data center in Pine Island, Minnesota, headlined by a 300 MW, 30 gigawatt-hour iron-air battery from Form Energy. Iron-air batteries store electricity by oxidizing iron and can hold power for up to 100 hours, covering multi-day weather events at a fraction of lithium-ion’s manufacturing cost. The full package adds 1,400 MW of wind and 200 MW of solar, and Google covers the total cost under Minnesota’s large-load customer framework. This is the arrangement regulators and advocates are pushing for everywhere: a tech company funding a massive clean energy buildout without shifting costs to residential customers. (TechCrunch)

Hawley and Blumenthal Introduce Bipartisan GRID Act in Senate

Senators Josh Hawley (R-MO) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) introduced the Guaranteeing Rate Insulation from Data Centers Act, the first federal bipartisan bill requiring data centers to fund their own electricity rather than raise residential utility bills. New data centers over 20 megawatts, enough to power roughly 15,000 homes, would be required to source all power outside the public grid, with existing facilities getting a 10-year transition window. The bill also mandates public disclosure of current and projected electricity demand. A populist Republican and a liberal Democrat landed on the same basic answer. (NBC News)

NRC Accepts Holtec SMR Construction Permit Application

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission accepted Holtec International’s application to build two SMR-300 reactors at the Palisades Energy Center in Michigan, each generating approximately 340 MW. This is the first major licensing application for a dual-unit small modular reactor (SMR) plant under the Part 50 framework, with an 18-month NRC technical review ahead. Holtec is simultaneously working to restart the existing 800 MW Palisades reactor, decommissioned in 2022, which would make it the first U.S. nuclear plant brought back from decommissioning status. (Federal Register)

Offshore Wind Projects Resume After Court Victories

Five major offshore wind projects resumed construction after federal courts issued preliminary injunctions blocking the Trump administration’s stop-work orders, including Vineyard Wind 1, Sunrise Wind, Empire Wind, and Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind. Dominion Energy reported $228 million in costs from delays and idle equipment during the BOEM suspension, plus $580 million in losses tied to Trump tariffs on steel and materials for the 2.6 GW Coastal Virginia project. Vineyard Wind 1 is now 95% complete with 60 of 62 turbines installed, targeting commercial operations by December 2026. The Trump administration has filed appeals, and broader legal challenges to the executive order suspending wind energy approvals remain pending. (Clean Technica)

xAI Expands Colossus Cluster to 2 GW

Elon Musk’s xAI confirmed it purchased a third building to expand its Colossus supercomputer complex to approximately 2 GW of compute power near Southaven, Mississippi, representing more than $20 billion in investment in the state. The expansion brings xAI’s total GPU count to approximately 555,000 NVIDIA chips across three facilities, making it the largest AI training cluster in the world by a significant margin. Colossus runs primarily on on-site natural gas turbines, and environmental groups have filed lawsuits claiming xAI operated 35 gas turbines at the original Memphis site despite permits for only 15. (Data Center Dynamics)

FERC Orders PJM to Create New Rules for Data Center Co-Location

FERC ordered PJM Interconnection, the nation’s largest grid operator, to establish new transmission service options for data centers co-located with generating facilities. FERC found that PJM’s existing behind-the-meter rules lack clarity on rates and conditions for these arrangements, and the new services will let data centers limit grid withdrawals while paying only for infrastructure they actually use. This ruling signals what FERC may require across other regions, with operators in MISO, SPP, and other RTOs expected to file similar proposals in 2026. (FERC)

Good week to follow the money and the meter. Make it a great March.

Will

AI Power Weekly

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