White House to rally utilities, data centers over AI power costs

WASHINGTON, July 13 : The White House plans to bring together utility companies and data center developers for a voluntary pledge designed to ensure rapid growth in electricity demand from artificial intelligence does not drive up power bills for households and businesses, according to three people familiar with the plans.An event to announce the initiative is expected in the coming weeks, with several companies taking part and vowing to protect current ratepayers from shouldering all the costs of AI expansion. The guest list is still being finalized, the sources said.The White House did not respond to requests for comment. Surging demand from power-hungry data centers has prompted regulators, consumer advocates and lawmakers in several states to warn that households could end up subsidizi