US President Donald Trump has invited technology companies to the White House to commit to developing their own power generation as he tries to ease tensions over the cost of electricity used by data centres to develop artificial intelligence.
“They need some PR help because people think that if a data centre goes in there, electricity prices are going to go up,” Trump said. “It’s not going to happen”.
The “ratepayer protection” pledge touted by the president comes as affordability has become a top concern for an American public wary of the possibility that the AI build-out could lead to higher utility bills.
Communities across the nation have seen a backlash against data centres over fears about rising electricity prices and concerns about pollution and water consumption.
Electricity prices have climbed 6.3 per cent over the past year, according to the Labor Department’s Consumer Price Index.
The president stressed that he understands that demand for energy will triple by 2035 largely because of AI, meaning the US needs to dramatically increase its construction of power plants.
Trump has also sought to cancel wind power projects while elevating coal – which contributes to climate change – as a source of energy.
The companies committing to the pledge included Google, Microsoft, Meta, Oracle, xAI, OpenAI and Amazon.
Under the terms of the pledge, the companies agree to build or buy new sources of power generation for their data centres and cover the expense of infrastructure upgrades.
The companies could also sell excess power generation to utilities for public consumption, in addition to negotiating separate rate structures with public utilities and states, ensuring expenses are not passed on to consumers.
They also commit to making backup generation available to prevent blackouts in times of emergency, and to hire locally for their data centre build-out.
While Trump said the pledge would force tech companies to produce their own electricity, the deal is likely not enforceable at the federal level, experts said.
The voluntary agreement has no enforcement mechanisms and ratepayers have no way to verify whether tech companies keep their promises, said Lena Moffitt, executive director of Evergreen Action, an environmental group.
“Now that energy prices have skyrocketed due to his corporate polluter-first policies, Trump is trying to cover up his mistakes with a photo op,” she said.
But the Edison Electric Institute, a top lobbying group for the power industry, said the ratepayer pledge would help ensure data centres pay their fair share even as they use enormous amounts of electricity.
“We appreciate President Trump’s focus on ensuring that our nation can drive innovation while also protecting Americans who need affordable, reliable energy,” said Drew Maloney, the group’s president and chief executive.
Australian Associated Press is the beating heart of Australian news. AAP is Australia’s only independent national newswire and has been delivering accurate, reliable and fast news content to the media industry, government and corporate sector for 85 years. We keep Australia informed.
