Trump claims he will make data centers pay for their own energy supplies

President Donald Trump tried to allay Americans’ concerns about rising electricity costs during his State of the Union address by claiming to have negotiated a “ratepayer protection pledge” with big tech companies, which would see them build or pay for new electricity generation for their data centers. Leaders from Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft, xAI, Oracle, and OpenAI are expected to attend an event on March 4 to sign the pledge. Fox News I reported today.

There are very few details at this point about what the pledge entails, nor how companies will be held accountable for following through on any commitments. “Under this bold initiative, these massive companies will build, source, or purchase their own power supplies for new AI data centers,” White House spokesman Taylor Rogers said in an email to Reuters. Edge.

“We are telling big tech companies that they must commit to providing their own energy needs,” Trump said during his speech.

Companies expanding their data centers for generative AI are already trying to do so. Anthropic and Microsoft It recently made voluntary commitments to cover the costs of new power plants built to serve its data centers. But they will need to sign contracts with utilities and grid operators, or local regulators will have to create new policies to keep companies on the hook to deliver on their promises. Meta has signed a 15-year agreement to cover the capital costs of three new gas-fired plants being built in Louisiana to power its largest data center to date. But some Residents and consumer advocates remain concerned About how increased demand from the data center can raise fuel and electricity costs.

Technology companies also announced A large number Of the agreements newly To support the deployment of next-generation nuclear reactors that can power their own data centers. But this technology is still in development, and it is generally not expected to come online until the 2030s. Plans to connect new fossil fuel plants to the electricity grid are also facing delays Gas turbines are in short supply.

There is another obstacle that increasingly stands in the way of these ambitions: Local declineresulting in technology companies facing construction delays and cancellations Dozens of data center projects across the United States. Later, there was a wave of promises from technology companies to address societal concerns.

High electricity prices have also become a major issue In state races, Democrats won last year, including Governor Abigail Spanberger’s win in Virginia. Spanberger, whose state is home to the world’s largest data center hub, offered Democrats’ response to Trump’s speech.

“During my campaign for governor last year, I traveled to every corner of Virginia, and I heard the same pressing concern everywhere: The costs are too high.” Spanberger said. “And I know these same conversations are happening all over this country.”