Google, Microsoft, Amazon to pay their own data centre power bills? Trump summons big tech leaders to woo public
US President Donald Trump has asked senior leaders of major technology companies to meet him at the White House next week and sign a commitment to produce their companies’ own electricity for energy-hungry data centers.
Representatives of tech giants such as Amazon, Google parent company Alphabet and Microsoft, according to a White House official. The list of companies invited to the meeting includes Oracle, Elon Musk’s xAI and Sam Altman’s OpenAI.
According to a White House official, the US President will hold the meeting on March 4.
Promises made by companies will not have the force of law and therefore will not be binding. But Trump administration officials still believe a public, formal commitment could bring accountability and offer some reassurance to consumers. This will also come at a time when experts point out that the need for data centers to use energy for key AI operations is increasing exponentially, which they say could lead to serious environmental damage.
“Major technology companies will join President Trump at the White House next week to formally sign the Ratepayer Protection Pledge that President Trump announced in his historic State of the Union address,” White House press secretary Taylor Rogers said in a statement Wednesday.
“Under this bold initiative, these massive companies will build, bring in or purchase their own power supplies for new AI data centers, ensuring Americans’ electric bills don’t rise as demand increases,” he added.
Data centers needed to expand computing power and support the artificial intelligence innovation that Trump supports are facing public backlash as many people believe they will have to foot the bill for these power-hungry stations.
“President Trump is determined to ensure American AI dominance while also lowering costs for working families,” Rogers said.
Resistance to data centers is also fueled by fears about the facilities’ water and land use and their reliance on diesel generators for backup power.
Trump’s State of the Union address touches on the issue
The White House official’s announcement came shortly after Donald Trump announced in his State of the Union address on Tuesday that big tech would meet its own power needs.
“Tonight, I am pleased to announce that I negotiated a new taxpayer protection commitment,” the President said. “Do you know what this is? We’re telling big tech companies that they have an obligation to meet their own power needs.”
His announcement came ahead of the November midterm elections, in which his ratings fell sharply.
Trump said legacy grids cannot meet the power needs of data centers.
“We have an old grid. It could never handle these types of numbers and the amount of electricity needed,” he said.
These massive companies will build, bring, or purchase their own power supplies for new AI data centers.
“That’s why I’m telling them they can build their own power plants. They’ll produce their own electricity. This will enable the company to obtain electricity while also lowering electricity prices for you,” Trump said.
The average retail price of electricity nationally reached 17.24 cents per kilowatt-hour in December; This was up 6% from the previous year, despite Trump promising a cut in half.
