OpenAI pledges to pay full power and grid costs at its own data center campuses after midterm voters restrict data centers

Two days after the US midterm elections, OpenAI published a National Community Compact and a Compute Campus Policy Blueprint. For future campuses it owns and operates, the company pledges to pay the full cost of the electricity it uses and of the grid upgrades its sites require. It also says it will post financial guarantees so that local households and businesses do not pay for grid upgrades if a project is canceled (ABC News).

The compact also covers disclosure and local agreements. Each campus will have its own local agreement and an annual public report. OpenAI will publish water use and construction plans and commission independent noise studies before a site begins operating, the Washington Post reported. It also says it will not require nondisclosure agreements with public officials, except narrow ones covering security and trade secrets. The company urged lawmakers to codify the commitments as industry-wide rules.

The electoral pressure is measurable. The Post reports that voters in at least 38 jurisdictions passed restrictions or bans on data centers on November 3. A tally cited by Yahoo Finance found that voters favored restrictions or rejected pro-development proposals in 40 of 41 local measures across 10 states. Residential electricity prices rose 7% in 2025 from the prior year, according to S&P Global.

The pledges cover less than the announcement suggests. Fortune notes that OpenAI says it already pays these costs at its campuses, so the compact mainly puts existing practice in writing. Leased sites are excluded, which matters for capacity that partners such as Oracle build and operate. Microsoft and Google made similar commitments earlier, and voters still rejected most local measures.