Trump calls on Big Tech to supply their own electricity for AI data centers (updated)

[DragonSlayer101]

The big picture: With electricity bills rising due to surging demand from AI data centers, President Trump has called for technology companies to either build their own power plants or help finance new power generation facilities. The directive comes amid growing protests from rural communities over energy-intensive AI data centers that have been rapidly expanding across the country.

Update (March 5): Major tech companies including Google, Microsoft, Meta, Amazon, Oracle, OpenAI, and xAI have now signed a voluntary "ratepayer protection pledge" at the White House, promising to cover the energy costs of their rapidly expanding AI data centers rather than passing those costs on to local electricity customers.

The companies say they will invest in their own power generation, fund grid upgrades, and negotiate special energy agreements with utilities to ensure the massive electricity demands of AI infrastructure do not drive up household bills. However, the pledge is non-binding, and energy experts have warned that without enforceable rules or regulatory oversight, it remains unclear whether the initiative will meaningfully protect consumers as data center power consumption continues to surge.

The original reporting follows below:

During this week's State of the Union address, Trump said he negotiated with leading artificial intelligence companies to establish a "Ratepayer Protection Pledge" aimed at shielding American households from rising electricity costs. The president did not identify the participating companies by name, but sources close to the administration say that Amazon, Alphabet, Meta, Microsoft, xAI, Oracle, and OpenAI are expected to participate.

According to officials, representatives from the companies are scheduled to attend a formal White House meeting on March 4 to sign a commitment to secure their own electricity supply rather than relying solely on existing public power grids. The initiative is intended to help stabilize the aging national electrical infrastructure and prevent further increases in residential electricity costs, even as energy demand continues to grow in the coming years.

Trump did not provide additional details about the program, though any reduction in monthly utility costs would likely be welcomed by American households amid ongoing inflation and concerns about AI-driven employment displacement. However, reports indicate that the pledges may be non-binding and may carry no legal force, meaning they may not result in direct financial relief for affected communities.

New data center projects have faced widespread protests across several states, with local residents often blaming them for contributing to higher electricity bills. Critics and environmental groups have also accused large facilities of straining regional water resources, arguing that heavy cooling requirements may reduce aquifer levels and create shortages for residential and agricultural use.

Investment in US data center infrastructure reached record levels last year, and major technology companies are expected to continue expanding AI-related infrastructure spending in 2026. Meta has announced long-term plans to invest roughly $600 billion in the US by 2028, while Alphabet, Amazon, and Microsoft have each committed more than $100 billion toward US-based AI and cloud infrastructure over the coming years.

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Trump calls on Big Tech to supply their own electricity for AI data centers (updated)

 

[Theinsanegamer]

Seems sensible. If they want to build these power hogs, they can either fund themselves or they can pay for grid capacity upgrades so locals dont get stuck with the costs.

The best solution would be forcing these companies to contribute t building new gen IV+Breeder nukes to replace coal/gas and the old gen I/II reactors that have needed replaced for decades.

 

[Endymio]

Seems sensible. If they want to build these power hogs, they can either fund themselves or they can pay for grid capacity upgrades so locals dont get stuck with the costs.

Very sensible, but why stop there? If you build a new home, you should likewise be compelled to provide your own source of power also, so you don't raise rates for your neighbors. Supplying your own water and sewage treatment and disposal would make sense too.

Or ... we could just stick with that same free market system that's worked so well in the past. That would, though, require environmentalists to stop blocking utilities from constructing new demand-based power plants.

 

[Theinsanegamer]

Very sensible, but why stop there? If you build a new home, you should likewise be compelled to provide your own source of power also, so you don't raise rates for your neighbors. Supplying your own water and sewage treatment and disposal would make sense too.

Or ... we could just stick with that same free market system that's worked so well in the past. That would, though, require environmentalists to stop blocking utilities from constructing new demand-based power plants.

That system is breaking right now, hence why peoples bills are out of control. Instead of forcing the normal person to pick up after multi trillion dollar corpos, how about we make corpos pay for what they are using? Especially since data centers do NOT bring the jobs a factory or warehouse would bring.

 

[Endymio]

That system is breaking right now,

I dispute that. Dominion Energy -- which powers more data centers in VA and the Carolinas than any other utility -- has raised electric rates 30% over the same period my local utility (which powers exactly zero datacenters) has raised them 24%. While these centers are contributing to escalating costs, they're nowhere near the largest factor, which is, of course, the massive expenditures utilities are making on windmills, solar farms, and the grid upgrades necessary for them.

And even this obscures the real issue here. When a shortage exists, ANY new development -- be it residential, commercial, or industrial -- raises prices. So either we ban all new development (rather bad for economic growth, wouldn't you say?) or we attack the real problem directly ... by building more electric generation capacity.

...how about we make corpos pay for what they are using? Especially since data centers do NOT bring the jobs a factory or warehouse would bring.

Per area land occupied, data centers create more jobs and bring in far more tax revenues than suburban homes do. Why shouldn't YOU pay the extra costs you create for THEM?

 

[yRaz]

I dispute that. Dominion Energy -- which powers more data centers in VA and the Carolinas than any other utility -- has raised electric rates 30% over the same period my local utility (which powers exactly zero datacenters) has raised them 24%. While these centers are contributing to escalating costs, they're nowhere near the largest factor, which is, of course, the massive expenditures utilities are making on windmills, solar farms, and the grid upgrades necessary for them.

And even this obscures the real issue here. When a shortage exists, ANY new development -- be it residential, commercial, or industrial -- raises prices. So either we ban all new development (rather bad for economic growth, wouldn't you say?) or we attack the real problem directly ... by building more electric generation capacity.


Per area land occupied, data centers create more jobs and bring in far more tax revenues than suburban homes do. Why shouldn't YOU pay the extra costs you create for THEM?

I'm so tired of the "jobs" lie. They create 200 jobs for the 6 months they take the build and then go into maintenance mode where you might need a dozen people to keep something the size of a few stadiums operating. Then these facilities all have a "life" span. It's cheaper to just dump the equipment and build a new building than it is to dispose of the waste and repurpose the facility. And people seem to forget, data centers only have a life of about 6-7 years

 

[Endymio]

I'm so tired of the "jobs" lie. They create 200 jobs for the 6 months they take the build and then go into maintenance mode where you might need a dozen people

A large datacenter can pay millions per year in property taxes alone -- not just the property tax on the real estate, but the value of the equipment within, and millions more in gross receipt taxes, state and local income taxes, etc. They more than pay their own way, regardless of any jobs created.

Oh, and where did you get the idea that these centers employ "a dozen people" only? Amazon's largest centers employ 500+ full time positions directly, plus more than 1,000 indirectly, through offsite security, maintenance, and other roles.

And people seem to forget, data centers only have a life of about 6-7 years

LOL, what? Amazon and Google have data centers that are 20 years old and still in operation. The center is the building and associated structures, the power distribution, cooling systems, security, etc, etc. The only thing that gets replaced so often are the servers themselves. So?

 

[dangh]

We have ruling systems, where government tells industry what and how they have to operate. I wasn't necessarily associating it with USA, but here we go.

 

[p51d007]

They should 100% supply their own power. Side benefit would be if they didn't use all of the power, they could sell it back to the utility company or companies. Plus, you can bet they will make deals with cities to get on the city grid. AND if there is a huge power demand, say cold, really hot that puts a strain on the grid, EVERYONE but the data center will have to cut back. The public will have to suffer for the almighty data center.

 

[bandit8623]

Very sensible, but why stop there? If you build a new home, you should likewise be compelled to provide your own source of power also, so you don't raise rates for your neighbors. Supplying your own water and sewage treatment and disposal would make sense too.

Or ... we could just stick with that same free market system that's worked so well in the past. That would, though, require environmentalists to stop blocking utilities from constructing new demand-based power plants.

they get their money back over time with rates. it doesnt make sense to deny a paying customer. adding 1 home is not the same as adding a huge data center

 

[Beerfloat]

However, reports indicate that the pledges may be non-binding and may carry no legal force, meaning they may not result in direct financial relief for affected communities.

Imagine actually doing the work of governing and involving lawmakers like a real President would. These companies are rubbing their hands at the shiny nothing burgers that our flimflam artist in chief is coming up with.

 

[amghwk]

Soon, the greatest threat to this earth are not going to be nuclear weapons or WMD anymore, but the.... f-king AI.

 

[Endymio]

adding 1 home is not the same as adding a huge data center

But we're not adding just one home. In four years alone, more than 15 million immigrants entered the country, and we built more than 7 million new homes to accommodate them. I don't hear anyone complaining about the impact of electric and water rates for all that new construction. Why not?

 

[Megalomaniac]

Nuclear Power

 

[Beerfloat]

But we're not adding just one home. In four years alone, more than 15 million immigrants entered the country, and we built more than 7 million new homes to accommodate them. I don't hear anyone complaining about the impact of electric and water rates for all that new construction. Why not?

I hear lots of complaints about immigration. It's all some people talk about. But you know what, let's make all immigrants sign a non-binding pledge too and then we can consider it solved.

 

[bandit8623]

But we're not adding just one home. In four years alone, more than 15 million immigrants entered the country, and we built more than 7 million new homes to accommodate them. I don't hear anyone complaining about the impact of electric and water rates for all that new construction. Why not?

and each home pays a base fee to get electricity. and also pays the cost of what they use. this slow adding homes allows the companies to keep up. thats why there isnt a complaint. also rates not going up much until the data center projection happened. rates here are projected to go up 12-15 % and that was not happening before data centers

 

[RudyBob]

Darn right they should

 

[Zefram]

The modern world needs to greatly expand building classIV nuclear reactors, moving to class V as they are developed.

 

[NumberNine]

Tony Stark was able to do this in a cave.
From a box of scraps!

 

[Endymio]

and each home pays a base fee to get electricity. and also pays the cost of what they use.

Exactly as datacenters pay. And datacenters have more stable power demands than do homes, with less variance, as well as being far cheaper to supply with power, per unit-energy delivered. Assuming sufficient supply, a utility serving datacenters can supply power cheaper to residential consumers than it otherwise could. But for decades, utiilities have underinvested in new capacity, being intimidated by environmentalists who block all attempts to invest in new sources of stable baseline power, be it nuclear, hydroelectric, or fossil fuels.

...this slow adding homes allows the companies to keep up.

But it hasn't been slow. Those new homes are consuming an additional 80K GW-hrs annually, on par with the datacenter increase over the same period of 125K GW-hrs. And both those factors combined are exerting less upward pressure on electricity rates than is the massive spending on "green" energy projects. If you want to save money on your electric bill -- look to where the problem is.

 

[SRB]

But we're not adding just one home. In four years alone, more than 15 million immigrants entered the country, and we built more than 7 million new homes to accommodate them. I don't hear anyone complaining about the impact of electric and water rates for all that new construction. Why not?

The reason that doesn't fly is that the original power plants were built and priced on the projection of traditional homes, businesses and factories. High power usage things like Aluminum smelting/production, etc. were an exception, rather than the rule, and the majority of those home and business customers received "bulk" discounts on power, almost all of which were set up before the computing/electronics explosion at the end of the last century. I doubt there are many industries that could match the raw current usage per square foot of an AI data center. Imagine you're electric bill if every pc a family has adds 10-20 gpu's to each one. A regular data center doesn't even come close to the usage of an AI data center on a square footage basis. This makes even the mining centers of old look tame in comparison.

NOBODY envisioned this kind of explosion in electricity usage. And the rapid increase in population coupled with the fact that the grid was designed before the explosion of home electrical devices, means getting new power online quickly in a hugely regulated environment means the cost to build will be massively higher than current generation costs....All due to the AI boom.

If these companies can afford the GPUs and ram, the can afford to pay their own way on a cost plus basis going forward basis rather that current market rates. This IS all their doing, not the consumer.

 

[Alpine7995]

Trump negotiating a voluntary promise from Amazon and Microsoft to maybe not raise your electricity bill, while Meta separately announces it's spending $600 billion on US infrastructure, is genuinely one of the stranger economic moments in recent memory. The companies are bigger than the policy.

 

[FaTaL]

I think everyone is overlooking the most fundamental resource we need as a species and is already beginning to show lower supply levels:

Water

The amount of water used to cool these AI data centers is insane. Almost all energy sources (capable of generating enough power for said data centers) consumes tremendous amounts of water as well.

 

[Endymio]

I think everyone is overlooking the most fundamental resource we need as a species and is already beginning to show lower supply levels:

Water. The amount of water used to cool these AI data centers is insane.

There's exactly as much water on earth today as there was 100 years ago, or 100 million years ago, and every single day in the US alone, rivers dump countless trillions of gallons of unused freshwater back into the oceans. Furthermore, datacenters in water-scarce regions don't use evaporative cooling at all, but rather closed-loop systems that consume no water.

Almost all energy sources (capable of generating enough power for said data centers) consumes tremendous amounts of water as well.

Nothing could be further from the truth. In coastal regions, nuclear and coal plants use salt water for secondary-loop cooling, not freshwater. Hydropower effectively uses zero water, and natural gas power plants with recirculating systems use less than 1% of the old open-loop systems.

 

[bandit8623]

There's exactly as much water on earth today as there was 100 years ago, or 100 million years ago, and every single day in the US alone, rivers dump countless trillions of gallons of unused freshwater back into the oceans. Furthermore, datacenters in water-scarce regions don't use evaporative cooling at all, but rather closed-loop systems that consume no water.


Nothing could be further from the truth. In coastal regions, nuclear and coal plants use salt water for secondary-loop cooling, not freshwater. Hydropower effectively uses zero water, and natural gas power plants with recirculating systems use less than 1% of the old open-loop systems.

just dont be a 3m and toxify the water source. since not making chems probly good