FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 30, 2026
CONTACT:
Aaron Bharucha, Public Relations Associate
(509) 429-1699 and epn-press@environmentalprotectionnetwork.org
NATIONAL HEALTH, ENVIRONMENTAL & CONSUMER GROUPS CALL FOR AI DATA CENTER HEALTH PROTECTION PLEDGE
If families shouldn’t have to pay the electricity costs of data centers,
they shouldn’t have to pay the health costs either.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A coalition of leading national health, environmental and consumer organizations today called on the Trump Administration to develop a Data Center Health Protection Pledge and urged Congress to ensure that health costs are addressed alongside electricity costs as it considers how to respond to rapid AI data center growth.
The call comes as Washington intensifies its focus on AI and data center growth, with the Senate moving toward consideration of the House-passed Ratepayer Protection Act and President Trump meeting Tuesday with leaders of major AI and technology companies.
The coalition says the same focus on protecting families from data center electricity costs should extend to protecting them from avoidable health costs.
“Families and communities should not be left to bear avoidable costs from the buildout,” the groups’ statement says. “As data center development accelerates, protecting Americans from avoidable health costs should be part of the national response from the start.”
The statement is signed by the American Lung Association, American Public Health Association, Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments, Children’s Environmental Health Network, Consumer Federation of America, National Consumer Law Center, National Consumers League, Physicians for Social Responsibility, and Environmental Protection Network.
The Hidden Health Costs of Data Center Expansion
EPN began calling for a Data Center Health Protection Pledge following the September 10 release of its report The Hidden Health Costs of AI Data Centers, published as part of its Safer, Not Sicker campaign. The report examined the potential public health consequences of the rapid data center buildout and documented at least 30 federal actions since January 2025 that could increase health risks by weakening pollution safeguards, easing permitting and public review requirements for data centers and the power generation needed to serve them, and reducing the government’s ability to monitor pollution and enforce pollution requirements.
“The health risks from data center growth are real and growing — it’s time to act to protect American families,” said Marc Boom, EPN’s Senior Director of Public Affairs. “We’re calling on the Administration to develop a Data Center Health Protection Pledge, modeled on the Ratepayer Protection Pledge, and on Congress to back it up. That will require action across the federal government, including from EPA, to make sure the rush to build the infrastructure for AI doesn’t impose greater health costs on families.”
The potential costs are substantial — and go far beyond electric bills.
Research by scientists at UC Riverside, Caltech and Rochester Institute of Technology estimated that just the air pollution associated with data center growth could contribute to roughly 600,000 asthma symptom cases, 1,300 premature deaths and up to $20 billion in annual health damages by 2028 — estimates that don’t take into account the recent rollbacks and policies that are weakening protections.
Those health impacts carry costs of their own — from medical care and missed work and school to the broader consequences of illness and premature death. The organizations say those costs should be considered alongside electricity rates as policymakers determine how the nation will accommodate rapid data center growth.
Powering and operating data centers can also bring additional air pollution from power plants and on-site generators. The resulting pollution can affect communities near data centers as well as those near the power plants that supply their electricity.
The Call for a Pledge
Following the model of the Ratepayer Protection Pledge, the groups are calling on federal leaders to work with technology companies, data center developers, electric utilities, states, local governments and other stakeholders, including organizations focused on public health and consumer concerns, to develop a Data Center Health Protection Pledge and secure broad support for it.
They are also urging Congress to back a Pledge and take additional steps needed to protect families and communities from avoidable health costs associated with data center growth.
“As data center development accelerates, protecting Americans from avoidable health costs should be part of the national response from the start,” it concludes.
BACKGROUND
The Administration launched its Ratepayer Protection Pledge in March with commitments from major technology companies to build, bring or buy the new power their data centers require and cover the cost of associated power-delivery infrastructure rather than passing those costs on to American households.
Congress has moved in the same direction. On September 16, the House passed the bipartisan Ratepayer Protection Act by an overwhelming 417–3 vote. The legislation would require state utility regulators to consider standards designed to ensure that large data centers cover the full incremental costs of the generation, transmission and distribution upgrades needed to serve them. The Senate is now moving toward consideration of the House-passed bill, after an earlier effort to pass it by unanimous consent was blocked.
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ABOUT THE ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION NETWORK
The Environmental Protection Network is a nonpartisan organization comprising more than 800 former EPA scientists, toxicologists, chemists, biologists, engineers, and policy analysts — many of whom spent decades as career experts inside the agency. They assessed cancer and developmental risks, studied links between pollution and fertility and chronic disease, investigated contaminated communities, and brought enforcement actions to hold corporate polluters accountable. EPN was founded in 2017 to serve as an independent voice promoting science-based policies that protect families’ health.