OpenAI has unveiled a new initiative to help prevent rising electricity costs in the regions where it is building its Stargate data center projects.

Dubbed the Stargate Community plan, in a blog post, the AI giant stated: “Across all of our Stargate Community plans, we commit to paying our own way on energy, so that our operations don’t increase your electricity prices.”

The company noted that the plan would be tailored to each community and region in which it operates, given the unique energy and grid conditions in each location. Proposed initiatives range from bringing new dedicated power and storage, fully funded by Stargate, to adding and paying for new energy generation and transmission resources.

To achieve this, OpenAI has committed to “planning transparently and proactively with local utilities, transmission providers, state utility regulators (public utility/service commissions) and regional grid operators.” In addition to working with the utilities and grid operators to develop strategies for operating AI campuses as flexible loads, reducing or curtailing demand during peak hours or times of grid stress.

The company highlighted several initiatives that it has already begun implementing as evidence of its commitment. For example, in Wisconsin, the company said that Oracle and Vantage are working with WEC Energy Group to develop new energy generation and capacity, including solar and battery storage. As part of the agreement, the development partners have committed to underwrite 100 percent of the power infrastructure needed for the project via a dedicated energy rate. The company claims the rate is designed to shield other ratepayers from price increases associated with the new investments.

In Michigan, its development partners, Oracle and Related Digital, have partnered with local utility DTE Energy to secure power for the state's Stargate project using existing generation resources, augmented by a new battery storage investment financed entirely by the project. According to the companies, the agreement is designed to ensure there is no impact on DTE’s existing customer base.

Finally, in Texas, OpenAI has partnered with SoftBank owned-SB Energy to fund and build new energy generation and storage to supply the ‘majority’ of power needed to operate its 1.2GW Stargate data center in Milam County. The deal will see SB Energy provide the project's powered infrastructure, while SoftBank and OpenAI invest $1 billion in the company to support its growth, with each committing $500 million.

Stargate was launched by OpenAI last January, in partnership with SoftBank, Oracle, and Abu Dhabi's MGX. At the time, it claimed it would invest $500bn in digital infrastructure over the next four years to serve OpenAI's compute needs.

Since then, the companies have announced several high-profile projects across the world. In September, it announced plans to build five data centers across Texas, New Mexico, and the Midwest, with a combined capacity of up to 5.5GW.

Despite these efforts, concerns remain about the impact large AI data centers could have on energy prices across the US.

The announcement by OpenAI closely follows the Trump administration and a bipartisan coalition of governors calling on the Mid-Atlantic-based Regional Transmission Operator (RTO) PJM Interconnection to require data center developers to pay for any new power generation they require, "whether they show up and use the power or not."

Concerns have also been raised about the use of natural gas to power the Stargate data centers. In March of last year, it was reported that Crusoe, the developer behind Stargate’s flagship data center in Abilene, Texas, secured 4.5GW of natural gas turbines to power its data center fleet, with some of the capacity slated to power the Stargate installation.