Is AI fueling U.S. electricity bills? Trump "puts pressure" on tech giants: Pay out of pocket, sign the agreement next week!

In Tuesday night’s State of the Union address, U.S. President Donald Trump outlined new “guidelines” for leading global data center and artificial intelligence (AI) companies: self-powered and self-funded. Next week, major tech companies will meet at the White House with President Trump to sign related commitments.

According to a White House official, Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft, xAI, Oracle, and OpenAI will sign agreements during the meeting on March 4th local time. This move is the latest effort by President Trump to protect consumers from rising electricity costs.

White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers stated, “Under this bold plan, these large companies will build, introduce, or purchase their own power supplies for new AI data centers, ensuring that as demand grows, Americans’ electricity bills will not increase.”

In Tuesday’s State of the Union, Trump said he had received such commitments from the tech industry but did not specify the details of the agreements. He further pointed out that, under a new “Taxpayer Protection Commitment,” companies building energy-intensive AI data centers will be required to fund their future electricity costs themselves.

“Our power grid is outdated and cannot handle the amount of electricity needed. We are telling major tech companies that they have an obligation to meet their own power needs. They can build their own power plants within their facilities, so as not to drive up anyone’s electricity prices,” the president said.

Community opposition to large-scale data center construction has been ongoing across the U.S., as many believe rising utility bills are caused by these facilities’ massive energy consumption.

According to estimates from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, between 2018 and 2024, the electricity demand from U.S. data centers doubled, and by 2028, it could double again. Government data shows that in December, the average retail electricity price in the U.S. reached $0.1724 per kWh, about a 6% increase from the same period last year.

Meanwhile, the Trump administration has been strongly supporting the AI industry, viewing it as a driver of economic growth and a pillar of national security. This presents political risks for the White House ahead of the upcoming midterm elections. In November last year, New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill and Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger defeated Republican opponents with overwhelming support by opposing rising electricity prices.

U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wray stated on Wednesday that the Trump administration has warned tech companies that if the public perceives their data centers as driving up energy costs, they will face strong opposition.

During a conference call, Wray told reporters, “We want to see data centers develop, hope they can quickly choose sites, and hope communities will welcome them, but to do that, they must make upfront investments in additional grid infrastructure.”