Trump says that AI tech companies need to ‘pay their own way’ when it comes to their electricity consumption — says major changes are coming to ensure Americans don't 'pick up the tab' for data centers

President Donald Trump said that even as U.S. tech giants are winning the AI race, the massive power requirements of these data centers should not increase the electricity bill for the average American. According to the president’s Truth Social post, his team will work with American tech companies so that they can continue with their AI advancements without passing on increased electricity costs due to the limitations of the national grid.

Microsoft is the first company that the White House will work with to address this issue. “First up in Microsoft, who my team has been working with, and which will make major changes beginning this week to ensure that Americans don’t “pick up the tab” for their POWER consumption, in the form of paying higher Utility bills,” Trump said. “We are the ‘HOTTEST’ Country in the World, and Number One in AI. Data Centers are key to that boom, and keeping Americans FREE and SECURE but, the big Technology Companies who build them must “pay their own way.” Because of this, Redmond just announced a five-point plan that promises to build “community-first AI infrastructure.”

The massive AI buildout is straining the electricity infrastructure, especially as it takes years — sometimes more than a decade — to build new power plants and the grid infrastructure that supports them. In the meantime, several multi-MW and multi-GW projects that are coming online in recent months are eating up the U.S.’s power production, causing power prices to skyrocket by as much as 36% in some states. More importantly, this jump in electricity costs is heavily impacting residential users and small businesses — individuals who often have the least to gain by using AI.

Meta founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in mid-2024 that power will be the biggest constraint on AI growth after the GPU shortage has eased for the industry. And even though we’re in the midst of a memory shortage as well, which is expected to last until 2028, this is far easier addressed than limitations on the power grid. More than that, the massive power demand that’s driving electricity prices is directly affecting a greater number of people than the lack of DRAM and NAND.

AI hyperscalers like OpenAI and xAI are turning to on-site generators to get their thousands of GPUs online as early as possible, allowing them to run even before they’re connected to the grid. However, these are just temporary solutions until they get the go-signal from state governments to get power from local utilities, meaning they will still have an impact on the local community’s power supply.

Aside from the White House, Democrats from the U.S. Senate are also concerned about rising residential energy bills, demanding explanations from Amazon, Google, and other tech giants. This two-prong approach could hopefully result in actions from both the private and the public sector that will allow the U.S. to stay competitive in the AI race without decimating the pockets of its ordinary citizens.

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