Trump asks tech companies to “pay their own way” for their data centers

• President Trump says American households shouldn't have to "pick up the tab" for higher energy costs
• AI data centers have been putting immense pressure on local grids
• Microsoft is the first company to make "major changes"

President Trump has said he wants tech giants to "pay their own way" for AI data centers, to save Americans from having to "pick up the tab" by facing higher electricity costs.

The news comes as the President promises to work with major US tech firms to protect consumers from higher utility costs, with Microsoft soon set to announce changes to stop data centers pushing up American electricity bills.

Trump blamed the previous administration for pushing American utility bills up by more than 30%, promising to work with Big Tech to remove the influence of AI data centers on household expenditure.

Trump wants to tackle US energy bills

The President's comments come ahead of the upcoming midterm elections, together with other commitments such as working with banks to cap credit card interest to 10% for one year.

"First up is 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," Trump wrote in a Truth Social post, promising to work with other companies.

"I just want you to know we are doing everything we can, and I believe we're succeeding in managing this issue well, so that you all don't have to pay more for electricity because of our presence," Microsoft President Brad Smith previously said in a Wisconsin town hall meeting (via CNBC).

The company has since backed down from its Wisconsin data center plans amid community backlash.

At the same time, some companies are looking to go completely off-grid with their data centers to minimize or negate the effects on communities. Oracle and OpenAI's Texas-based Stargate campus will include a natural gas-powered second data center, for example.

Electricity prices rose around 5.1% nationwide between September 2024 and 2025, per the Bipartisan Policy Center. The US Energy Information Administration found that residential revenue per kWh rose by 5.2% on average, but this was as high as 25.8% in the District of Columbia.

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