The Trump administration is developing a policy to require major tech companies to fully cover the electricity, water, and grid infrastructure costs of their expanding AI data centers.
The move aims to prevent these costs from being passed on to utility ratepayers amid rising national energy prices.
A draft voluntary “compact” has been circulated to companies like Microsoft, Google, Amazon, and Meta, outlining commitments to protect consumers from price hikes.
The initiative follows state and federal pressure on the nation’s largest grid operator to make tech firms finance new power generation.
The policy reflects growing political concern over the economic burden of AI infrastructure and its impact on household affordability.
As the artificial intelligence boom triggers an unprecedented expansion of power-hungry data centers across the United States, the Trump administration is formulating a response to a critical question: Who should pay to keep the lights on? With electricity prices climbing and regional grids straining under new demand, White House officials are advancing a policy framework designed to ensure the technology companies driving this growth—not American households—absorb the full financial burden of their infrastructure’s utility and resiliency costs.
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