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Is AI using too much electricity sparking public protests? Trump launches initiative: Data centers pay higher electricity bills

2026-07-23·newswire-us-stock-050001
Is AI using too much electricity sparking public protests? Trump launches initiative: Data centers pay higher electricity bills.

As the AI boom drives U.S. technology giants to build data centers on a large scale, the huge power consumption of data centers is causing dissatisfaction among more and more American people. According to White House officials, U.S.

President Trump will launch a non-binding initiative on Thursday Eastern Time to require data centers to pay more for the electricity needed to run artificial intelligence models.

He hopes to quell the wave of opposition from the American public against the construction of AI data centers and protect American families from rising electricity bills caused by the artificial intelligence boom. At the same time, it will promote the United States to become a global leader in artificial intelligence.

It is said that many leading power companies and data center operators in the United States have responded to Trump's initiative and agreed to bear higher costs for the electricity required to support the operation of AI models, hoping to quell public dissatisfaction.

Data centers will pay higher electricity bills This commitment expands on the "Taxpayer Protection Pledge" proposed by Trump in March this year, ensuring that companies that build and use data centers pay for electricity usage in excess of normal rates, thereby avoiding the cost of electricity being passed on to ordinary households.

Nearly 200 entities have responded to the initiative, including energy companies such as NextEra Energy and Duke Energy, and data center service providers such as Equinix and Digital Realty. According to White House officials, Trump will attend the event with U.S.

Energy Secretary Chris Wright, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin, and a number of governors who signed the original pledge. The White House said the non-binding initiative would cover 80% of the electricity used by all U.S. homes and businesses.

However, as the AI boom drives the construction of data centers in many places across the United States, protecting power users from data center demand is no easy task.

According to a forecast released by BloombergNEF on July 21, data centers currently account for 5.9% of the total electricity consumption in the United States, and are expected to rise to approximately 12% by 2030, and further climb to 20% in 2035 - a proportion that has more than tripled in less than ten years. More importantly, the U.S.

power grid is composed of multiple regional power grids, which puts the power system under tremendous pressure. The highly concentrated power demand of data centers means that the power demand will not be evenly distributed, but will hit several specific power grid areas. Among them, PJM Interconnected Grid is the first to be affected.

Last week, the latest annual power auction held by the PJM Interconnected Grid, the largest regional grid in the United States serving 67 million people, pushed power prices to record highs. According to reports, PJM may need to supply 34% of its power to data centers in the future. On Thursday, the U.S.

energy regulator Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) will hold a meeting to discuss the grim prospects PJM faces due to the ongoing supply and demand imbalance.

“Today’s power system forces nearly everyone—from ordinary homes to hyperscale data centers—to rely on the same grid,” Travis Fisher, director of energy and environmental policy research at the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank, wrote recently. This “one size fits all” model is increasingly failing to meet the needs of both groups.

On the one hand, large corporate customers may have to wait a decade or more for service; on the other hand, ordinary ratepayers worry that expanding the grid to handle massive new industrial loads will ultimately drive up their own electricity bills.

Data center proponents say the rapid growth of the AI industry is driving much-needed long-term investment in the U.S. power grid, and point out that other factors are currently driving up power costs, including the retirement of power plants and limited transmission capacity.

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Is AI using too much electricity sparking public protests? Trump launches initiative: Data centers pay higher electricity bills

[AI uses too much electricity to cause public protests? Trump launches initiative: Data centers pay higher electricity bills! 】As the AI boom drives American technology giants to build data centers on a large scale, the huge power consumption of data centers is causing dissatisfaction among more and more American people. According to White House officials, U.S. President Trump will launch a non-binding initiative on Thursday Eastern Time to require data centers to pay more for the power needed to run artificial intelligence models, hoping to quell the wave of opposition in the United States against the construction of AI data centers.

As the AI boom drives U.S. technology giants to build data centers on a large scale, the huge power consumption of data centers is causing dissatisfaction among more and more American people. According to White House officials, U.S. President Trump will launch a non-binding initiative on Thursday Eastern Time to require data centers to pay more for the electricity needed to run artificial intelligence models. He hopes to quell the wave of opposition from the American public against the construction of AI data centers and protect American families from rising electricity bills caused by the artificial intelligence boom. At the same time, it will promote the United States to become a global leader in artificial intelligence. It is said that many leading power companies and data center operators in the United States have responded to Trump's initiative and agreed to bear higher costs for the electricity required to support the operation of AI models, hoping to quell public dissatisfaction. Data centers will pay higher electricity bills This commitment expands on the "Taxpayer Protection Pledge" proposed by Trump in March this year, ensuring that companies that build and use data centers pay for electricity usage in excess of normal rates, thereby avoiding the cost of electricity being passed on to ordinary households. Nearly 200 entities have responded to the initiative, including energy companies such as NextEra Energy and Duke Energy, and data center service providers such as Equinix and Digital Realty. According to White House officials, Trump will attend the event with U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin, and a number of governors who signed the original pledge. The White House said the non-binding initiative would cover 80% of the electricity used by all U.S. homes and businesses. However, as the AI boom drives the construction of data centers in many places across the United States, protecting power users from data center demand is no easy task. According to a forecast released by BloombergNEF on July 21, data centers currently account for 5.9% of the total electricity consumption in the United States, and are expected to rise to approximately 12% by 2030, and further climb to 20% in 2035 - a proportion that has more than tripled in less than ten years. More importantly, the U.S. power grid is composed of multiple regional power grids, which puts the power system under tremendous pressure. The highly concentrated power demand of data centers means that the power demand will not be evenly distributed, but will hit several specific power grid areas. Among them, PJM Interconnected Grid is the first to be affected. Last week, the latest annual power auction held by the PJM Interconnected Grid, the largest regional grid in the United States serving 67 million people, pushed power prices to record highs. According to reports, PJM may need to supply 34% of its power to data centers in the future. On Thursday, the U.S. energy regulator Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) will hold a meeting to discuss the grim prospects PJM faces due to the ongoing supply and demand imbalance. “Today’s power system forces nearly everyone—from ordinary homes to hyperscale data centers—to rely on the same grid,” Travis Fisher, director of energy and environmental policy research at the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank, wrote recently. This “one size fits all” model is increasingly failing to meet the needs of both groups. On the one hand, large corporate customers may have to wait a decade or more for service; on the other hand, ordinary ratepayers worry that expanding the grid to handle massive new industrial loads will ultimately drive up their own electricity bills. Data center proponents say the rapid growth of the AI industry is driving much-needed long-term investment in the U.S. power grid, and point out that other factors are currently driving up power costs, including the retirement of power plants and limited transmission capacity.

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