As Electric Bills Rise, Trump Says Tech Companies Should Pay More

[dalton99a]

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/25/climate/ai-data-centers-trump-energy-costs.html

As Electric Bills Rise, Trump Says Tech Companies Should Pay More
The president said he had negotiated a deal with tech giants to cover the energy costs of data centers, but offered few details. Experts said such pledges could prove difficult in practice.
By Brad Plumer
Feb. 25, 2026 Updated 1:59 p.m. ET

In a nod to voter frustration over rising electricity prices, President Trump on Tuesday said he was negotiating pledges from major tech companies to pay a greater share of the energy costs associated with new data centers.

Silicon Valley is spending hundreds of billions of dollars to build power-hungry data centers for artificial intelligence as demand for electricity is increasing across the United States. That has led to widespread fears that the A.I. boom could cause utility bills to spike for ordinary households.

Mr. Trump’s announcement during his State of the Union speech was light on details, and experts said that any promises by tech companies to pay more for their electricity could be difficult to verify or enforce in practice. Yet the move underscored the extent to which White House officials and Republicans have worried that rising electricity prices could hurt them in the midterm elections this year.

“We’re telling the major tech companies they have the obligation to provide for their own power needs and can build their own power plants so no one’s prices will go up,” Mr. Trump said. He called it a “ratepayer protection pledge.”

Data centers being built today can use as much power as a small city, and they often require large new transmission lines, power plants and other costly upgrades before they can be connected to the local electric grid. Historically, utilities have spread those upgrade costs — which can reach billions of dollars — among all customers in their regions.

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Anyone who believes his “ratepayer protection pledge” is an idiot

“Under my administration, we will be slashing energy and electricity prices by half within 12 months, at a maximum 18 months.”
- Donald Trump, August 14, 2024

“Starting the day I take the oath of office, I will rapidly drive prices down and we will make America affordable again. We’re going to make it affordable again. We’re going to get your energy prices down. We’re going to get your energy prices down by 50%.”
- Donald Trump, August 17, 2024.

[hedda_foil]

1. Bullpucky!