- President Trump says American households shouldn’t have to “foot the bill” for higher energy costs.
- AI data centers put immense pressure on local networks
- Microsoft is the first company to make ‘major changes’
President Trump said he wants tech giants to “pay their own way” for AI data centers, to prevent Americans from having to “foot the bill” by facing higher electricity costs.
The news comes as the president vows to work with big U.S. tech companies to protect consumers from rising utility costs, with Microsoft soon set to announce changes to stop data centers from driving up U.S. electricity bills.
Trump blamed the previous administration for driving up U.S. utility bills by more than 30%, promising to work with Big Tech to remove the influence of AI data centers on household spending.
Trump wants to tackle US energy bills
The president’s comments come as the upcoming midterm elections approach, along with other commitments such as working with banks to cap credit card interest at 10% for one year.
“The first is Microsoft, with whom my team has worked, and which will make major changes starting this week to ensure Americans don’t ‘foot the bill’ for their energy use,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social article, promising to work with other companies.
“I just want you to know that we’re doing everything we can, and I believe we’re managing this issue well, so that you don’t have to pay more for electricity because of our presence,” Microsoft President Brad Smith previously said at a public meeting in Wisconsin (via CNBC).
The company has since abandoned its data center plans in Wisconsin due to backlash from the community.
At the same time, some companies are looking to abandon their data centers altogether to minimize or negate the effects on communities. Oracle and OpenAI’s Texas-based Stargate campus, for example, will include a second data center powered by natural gas.
Electricity prices increased by about 5.1% nationwide between September 2024 and 2025, according to the Bipartisan Policy Center. The U.S. Energy Information Administration found that residential revenue per kWh increased by 5.2% on average, but that figure rose to 25.8% in the District of Columbia.
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