Trump faces an AI data center power dilemma ahead of midterms

President Donald Trump will haul big technology companies into the White House on Wednesday to sign a pledge that they will supply their own power for artificial intelligence data centers, as anger grows across the U.S. over rising electricity prices ahead of the midterm elections.

Trump has embraced the artificial intelligence industry as an engine of economic growth and pillar of national security in the U.S. rivalry with China. But his alliance with the industry also poses political risks as Democrats zero in on the cost of living as they campaign to win back Congress.

Grassroots opposition to data centers is growing in communities across the U.S. with residents blaming the facilities for high utility bills. Trump promised to cut electricity prices in half during his first year in office. Instead, residential prices increased 6% in 2025 on average nationwide, according to federal data.

Trump tried to address voter frustration in his State of the Union address last week, through what he is calling a “ratepayer protection pledge.”

Power obligation

“We’re telling the major tech companies that they have the obligation to provide for their own power needs,” Trump told the joint session of Congress on Feb. 24.

Amazon, Google, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, xAI, Oracle and OpenAI will sign the agreement Wednesday, a White House official told CNBC. White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers said the companies will “build, bring, or buy their own power supply for new AI data centers, ensuring that Americans’ electricity bills will not increase as demand grows.”

But it is unclear whether the pledge will carry any concrete commitments. Trump’s trade and manufacturing advisor Peter Navarro has previously said the White House would “force” the tech companies to “internalize” the costs associated with their data centers.

The administration faces an uphill battle turning the pledge into policy that is actually implemented on the ground, said Rob Gramlich, president of consulting firm Grid Strategies and former economic advisor to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

Decentralized rules

The rules governing the electric grid are decentralized across all 50 states, each with their own public utility commissions and different laws. The states would have to approve rules requiring data center developers pay for the costs of new power generation, Gramlich said.

“The White House can’t do that on its own,” he said. “It doesn’t have any jurisdiction there and of course the technology companies can’t do that on their own either.”

Democrats quickly criticized the pledge as an empty promise.

“A handshake agreement with Big Tech over data center costs isn’t good enough,” Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona said in a Feb. 24 social media post. “Americans need a guarantee that energy prices won’t soar and communities have a say.”

Implementation challenges

There is a growing political consensus across the U.S. that data center developers need to pay for new transmission and power…