Trump administration pressures tech companies to fund $15B power plants amid AI energy crisis
16 Sources
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Trump administration wants tech companies to buy $15B of power plants they may not use | TechCrunch
The Trump administration wants the largest electricity grid to add $15 billion worth of new power generation -- and he wants tech companies to pay for it, even if they don't need the capacity. The White House and the governors of several states in the region want grid operator PJM to hold an
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Trump wants big tech to pay for big beautiful power plants
It just needs PJM Interconnection, one of the US's biggest grid operators, to green light the auction The Trump administration says it wants big tech companies to take more accountability for the power their datacenters consume in an effort to shield voters from higher power bills at home. On
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Trump to Direct Key US Grid Operator to Hold Emergency Auction
President Donald Trump and US Northeast governors will direct the nation's largest grid operator to hold an emergency power auction that would force technology giants to pay for the construction of a fleet of new plants. The unprecedented move, set to come Friday, aims to quell concerns about data
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Trump wants tech companies to foot the bill for new power plants because of AI
U.S. President Donald Trump gestures, before boarding Air Force One en route to Detroit, Michigan, at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, U.S., January 13, 2026. The Trump administration on Friday will push the largest electricity grid in the U.S. to make the big technology companies pay for new power
[5]
How the White House and governors want to fix AI-driven power shortages and price spikes
The White House and a bipartisan group of governors are pressuring the operator of the mid-Atlantic power grid to take urgent steps to boost energy supply and curb price hikes, holding a Friday event aimed at addressing a rising concern among voters about the enormous amount of power used for
[6]
Trump says he'll make tech firms pay for power. They'd love to | Fortune
"They have no shortage of money," said Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Anurag Rana of the tech giants powering the global artificial intelligence race. "They really don't have a problem with funding this thing." Amazon, Microsoft, Alphabet and Meta collectively spend hundreds of billions of dollars
[7]
Trump wants AI companies to pay $15 billion for electricity
The Trump administration and a coalition of Northeast governors are moving toward a dramatic overhaul of how new power plants get built, pushing a plan that would make Big Tech directly finance new electricity generation for their artificial intelligence build-out. The proposal would ask PJM
[8]
Trump administration calls on tech companies to pay energy bill for new AI power plants
Washington -- The Trump administration and a bipartisan group of governors called for reforms in the largest electric grid in the country to make sure the development of new artificial intelligence plants doesn't drive up electric costs. Federal and state officials signed onto a statement of
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Trump wants Big Tech to pay for new power plants as electricity prices surge
The data centers that power the AI boom also need power themselves - and a lot of it. Now, the Trump administration wants the tech companies cashing in on AI to foot a bigger part of the bill. The Trump administration said Friday that it would urge major East Coast power grid operator PJM
[10]
How the White House and governors want to fix AI-driven power shortages and price spikes
The White House and a bipartisan group of governors are pressuring the operator of the mid-Atlantic power grid to take urgent steps to boost energy supply and curb price hikes, holding a Friday event aimed at addressing a rising concern among voters about the enormous amount of power used for
[11]
How the White House and governors want to fix AI-driven power shortages and price spikes
The White House and a bipartisan group of governors are pressuring the operator of the mid-Atlantic power grid to take urgent steps to boost energy supply and curb price hikes, holding a Friday event aimed at addressing a rising concern among voters about the enormous amount of power used for
[12]
AI data centers and average electricity users need separate checks
Under pressure for rising electricity rates as a result of data centers that demand massive amounts of power, AI developers are now maintaining that rates for the average consumer will go down as future data centers come online. Levi Patterson, Nvidia's Director of Energy, Science and AI
[13]
Surging electricity rates put data centers on 2026 ballot. Here's why.
As the world is in the midst of an ongoing energy crisis, people are looking for ways to reduce electricity consumption. Here are five instant changes you can make to reduce your electricity bill. Voter anger over surging electricity prices is spreading across the country and across partisan lines
[14]
How the White House and governors want to fix AI-driven power shortages and price spikes
The White House and a bipartisan group of governors are pressuring the operator of the mid-Atlantic power grid to take urgent steps to boost energy supply and curb price hikes, holding a Friday event aimed at addressing a rising concern among voters about the enormous amount of power used for
[15]
President Trump Orders Data Centers to Pay for Power as AI Strains the Grid | PYMNTS.com
By completing this form, you agree to receive marketing communications from PYMNTS and to the sharing of your information with our sponsor, if applicable, in accordance with our Privacy Policy and Terms and Conditions. The proposal lands as AI-driven data center construction accelerates in the PJM
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Trump and governors unveil plan to fight AI electric price hikes by...
WASHINGTON -- President Trump and a bipartisan group of governors joined forces Friday to pressure electricity giant PJM to halt soaring residential power costs by forcing new artificial intelligence data centers to generate their own supply. Energy Secretary Chris Wright, Interior Secretary Doug
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The Trump administration is pushing the nation's largest grid operator to hold an emergency auction forcing tech giants to pay for $15 billion in new power generation. The move targets surging energy demands from AI data centers that have driven electricity prices up 10-15% in the Mid-Atlantic region, sparking voter backlash ahead of midterm elections.
Trump Demands Tech Giants Fund New Power Generation Capacity
The Trump administration is pressuring PJM Interconnection, the nation's largest electricity grid operator, to hold an emergency power auction that would force tech companies to fund approximately $15 billion worth of new power plants
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. On Friday, Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum met with mid-Atlantic governors to unveil a "statement of principles" directing PJM to conduct this unprecedented sale2
. The initiative targets AI power demand that has strained the grid serving more than 65 million people across 13 states, including the data center hotspot of northern Virginia4
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Source: New York Post
Under the proposed plan, tech companies would bid on 15-year contracts for new electricity generation, paying for the capacity whether they ultimately use the power or not. Donald Trump emphasized the urgency on Truth Social, declaring "I never want Americans to pay higher Electricity bills because of Data Centers"
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. The administration wants PJM to hold the special auction by the end of September, with staggered start-up times for new power plants.Rising Electricity Costs Fuel Political Pressure
Electricity prices in the PJM region surged 10% to 15% in 2025 compared to the previous year, with data centers accounting for $23 billion in costs passed down to consumers according to watchdog Monitoring Analytics
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. The average US retail electricity price jumped 7.4% in September to a record 18.07 cents per kilowatt-hour, while residential prices climbed 10.5% between January and August 2025, marking one of the largest increases in over a decade. These rising electricity costs for consumers have become a critical political issue ahead of November's midterm elections, with utility bills playing a major role in Democratic victories in New Jersey and Virginia gubernatorial races4
.Bipartisan governors from Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Virginia are supporting the initiative, with Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro making his participation contingent on including provisions to limit wholesale electricity price increases for regional consumers
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. Gas and electric utilities sought or won rate increases exceeding $34 billion in the first three quarters of 2025, more than double the same period a year earlier5
.AI-Driven Power Shortages Threaten Grid Reliability
The significant power consumption of AI has created urgent capacity challenges. PJM's most recent auction revealed the grid was six gigawatts short of its reliability requirement for 2027, equivalent to six large nuclear plants
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. This deficit increases blackout risks, with analysts warning that instead of blackouts occurring once every 10 years, they could become more frequent4
. PJM's peak load has increased 10% over the last decade and is expected to climb another 6.5% in 20271
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Source: AP
Many new data centers now exceed 100 megawatts of power capacity, with companies like OpenAI and Meta planning multi-gigawatt campuses
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. The Department of Energy argues the emergency power auction is justified after PJM took 17 gigawatts of capacity offline between 2020 and 2025, much of it from retired coal-fired generators2
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Source: PYMNTS
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Grid Operator Responds Coolly to Administration Push
Despite the political pressure, PJM Interconnection appears reluctant to comply with the administration's directive. Grid operator spokesman Jeffrey Shields stated bluntly: "We were not invited to the event they are apparently having tomorrow and we will not be there"
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. The statement of principles is nonbinding, though PJM's board of managers released a plan Friday directing staff to "develop a proposal to both accelerate and execute" a backstop procurement2
.Consumer advocates warn that while ratepayers are already paying billions in higher consumer bills to underwrite power supply for data centers, this money isn't resulting in the construction of new power plants necessary to meet surging energy demands from AI data centers
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. Joe Bowring, president of PJM's independent watchdog Monitoring Analytics, called the approach "a significant improvement and a logical extension of bring-your-own new generation," noting it would provide secure revenues for years in a market known for price volatility.Tech Industry Explores Alternative Power Solutions
While the administration pushes for baseload power from fossil fuel plants, tech companies have been pursuing different strategies. Microsoft formalized commitments to "pay its way" to ensure local utility customers don't foot the bill, including backing efforts to restart the Three Mile Island Unit 1 reactor, set to resume operations later in 2026
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. Hyperscalers have also placed bets on nuclear power startups like Oklo and X-Energy to satisfy long-term power demands2
.Many tech companies prefer renewable energy solutions, which are cheaper, more modular, and faster to deploy than fossil fuel plants
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. Solar farms can be built in approximately 18 months and deliver power before completion, aligning with data center construction timelines and allowing companies to manage risk more effectively1
. However, supply chain challenges continue to constrain all options, with waitlists for gas generators stretching to 2030 and small modular reactors unlikely to come online until the end of the decade2
.References
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