President Trump asks tech companies to cover power costs for AI data centers
President Donald Trump said big tech companies must pay for the electricity needed to power their expanding AI data centers.
Fox – Seattle
Seven major technology companies that rely on power-hungry data centers to train AI models have signed a pledge pledging to pay more for electricity as the Trump administration seeks to curb power rate hikes that have inflated energy bills and angered American voters ahead of November’s midterm elections.
Just as the White House is working to reduce the cost of living, data centers consume vast tracts of land as well as power and water supplies, straining power grids and driving up energy bills for homes and small businesses.
President Donald Trump has argued that data centers are essential to the U.S. economy and the AI race with China, but they face increasing pressure to cut costs for Americans struggling with his economic response.
“We’re here this afternoon for a historic signature that will help us significantly reduce utility costs and lower the cost of electricity for millions of Americans,” President Trump said at a White House event to sign the Ratepayer Protection Pledge, which he announced during his State of the Union address. “They’re not going to go up. They’re actually going to go down.”
President Trump said the tech companies that signed the voluntary commitment would pay for all the costs of powering and shipping data centers, but acknowledged that “unfortunately, it’s going to take some time to get there.”
Energy experts say the pledge is unlikely to protect ratepayers from the affordability headaches associated with rapid data center expansion. Furthermore, it does not provide immediate relief to ratepayers who are currently experiencing soaring utility costs.
“This pledge is an unenforceable document that provides no benefit to consumers,” Ari Pesko, director of the Power Law Initiative at Harvard Law School’s Environmental and Energy Law Program, told USA TODAY.
“This pledge does not affect utility bills,” he added. “In his remarks, the president acknowledged that the pledge was aimed at addressing “PR issues” in data centers. Electricity rates are set by power companies and approved by utility regulators, not through White House press conferences. ”
During a roundtable, President Trump told tech companies that they “need some (public relations) help because people think that when you put in a data center, your electricity bill goes up.”
According to the pledge, Google, Amazon, Metaplatforms, Microsoft, Oracle, OpenAI, and Elon Musk’s xAI agreed to cover the power costs for their data centers and invest in the power grid and locations to host the facilities. It also promised to negotiate different rates from residential and industrial customers in the states where its data centers are located.
Ryan Freddick of consulting firm Brattle Group said the principles outlined in the pledge, if implemented at scale, “could provide some protection to consumers” from changing costs associated with rapid data center growth.
“Their ultimate impact will depend on whether data center developers, utility companies and state regulators choose to translate these principles into concrete action,” Fredik said.
He explained that regulators have already approved a new rate structure proposed by utilities “to recover incremental costs from data centers,” and centers in many regions across the country have agreed to it.
“To the extent that pledges have an impact, they may give political momentum to these efforts,” Fredik said.
Rising power prices cut across party lines, and grassroots protests are erupting in areas where these giant warehouses powering the AI revolution are located.
Analysts have warned that U.S. electricity prices could become a key factor in voting booths, jeopardizing Republican control of Congress in the midterm elections.
A 2025 study from Carnegie Mellon University and North Carolina State University estimates that data centers and crypto mining could increase average electricity bills by 8% by 2030, and more than 25% in major data center markets such as Northern Virginia.
