OpenAI Says It Will Pay for Its Data Centers’ Power After the Election Backlash
OpenAI's new promise sounds like a clean fix for angry voters, but its fine print leaves out the leased campuses and partner sites where the real exposure sits. One of its biggest partners may have the most to lose.
This post may contain links from our sponsors and affiliates, and Flywheel Publishing may receive compensation for actions taken through them.
Two days after the midterms, OpenAI promised to pay its own power bills. Voters had favored restrictions or rejected pro-development proposals in 40 of 41 local data center measures across 10 states.
On November 5, 2026, OpenAI published a National Community Compact and a Compute Campus Policy Blueprint. For future campuses it owns and operates, it pledged to pay for the electricity and grid infrastructure they need. It also promised to post financial guarantees before major spending begins, so other utility customers are protected if a project is delayed, reduced, or canceled.
OpenAI is private, so investors feel its decisions through its partners. Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT | MSFT Price Prediction) closed down 3.58% at $535.93 that day, and Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) fell 6.93% to $115.16. No source ties either move to the pledge.
What OpenAI Committed To and What It Left Out
The pledges are voluntary, carry no legal force, and name no dollar figure for power costs. OpenAI says the blueprint has been in development since August and that it discussed the plan with dozens of lawmakers and candidates.
Public officials will no longer have to sign nondisclosure agreements. Confidentiality will remain for security information and trade secrets.
The Georgia contract is the most useful part of the plan. OpenAI’s Effingham County campus has a Georgia Power contract for 3.2 gigawatts delivered from 2028 to 2032, and the utility can cut supply by up to 1,000 megawatts at peak demand. Regulators want that kind of flexibility before they grant grid access.
Partners Carry the Coverage Gap
The pledge covers only campuses OpenAI owns and operates. SB Energy builds, owns, and operates the larger Ohio campus that OpenAI leases, and Oracle supplies Stargate capacity, including the Abilene, Texas site. The pledge does not say whether leased sites and joint ventures are covered.
Oracle has the most exposure. OpenAI will reportedly pay it about $30 billion a year under a 4.5-gigawatt deal. Meanwhile, Oracle spent $28.5 billion on capital projects in its fiscal first quarter and reported free cash flow of negative $5.4 billion.
Texas adds to that risk. Governor-elect Gina Hinojosa takes office January 19 and wants a moratorium on data center approvals. Oracle stock is already down 53.38% over the past year.
Microsoft made its own pledge on January 13, 2026, to pay for power and local grid upgrades for its AI data centers. Azure produced $33.16 billion in its latest quarter, so OpenAI’s policy barely matters against a business that size.
Every Hyperscaler Already Made This Promise
Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG, NASDAQ:GOOGL) said the same day that it will pay for 100% of the power at its $17 billion Wyoming data center. Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) pledged $1 billion over five years to host communities on October 2.
Microsoft, Oracle, OpenAI and Google also signed the White House Ratepayer Protection Pledge in March. Those promises were public before voters rejected most local measures, so money alone has not settled the local fight.
The blueprint asks utility commissions to make similar rules mandatory. That would turn a cost the largest players can absorb into a hurdle for smaller developers.
What Rising Local Resistance Means for Microsoft and Oracle Investors
The bull case rests on demand. On October 28, Microsoft’s chief financial officer said: “Customer demand continues to exceed available supply.” Microsoft’s commercial remaining performance obligations, meaning contracted revenue it has not yet recognized, reached $677 billion.
The bear case is more local rejections and slower approvals. Power costs may shift onto landlords.
The pledge looks far easier for Microsoft to absorb than for Oracle. Microsoft pays for its pledge from a strong financial position. Oracle just priced $20 billion of common stock and senior notes to build capacity for a customer whose new pledge may skip Oracle-hosted sites.
Keep an eye on two triggers. Will OpenAI extend the pledge to leased campuses, and will Texas lawmakers move on a moratorium after January 19?
Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.
Omor Ibne Ehsan is a writer at 24/7 Wall St. He is a self-taught investor with a focus on growth, cyclical, and dividend equities that have strong fundamentals, value, and long-term potential. He also has an interest in high-risk, high-reward investments such as penny stocks.
