U.S. President Donald Trump is set to meet with major Big Tech executives to sign an agreement requiring companies to self-supply electricity for their data centers. The move comes as public discontent over high prices grows ahead of the midterm elections in November.
According to Reuters on the 4th (local time), President Trump will meet with leaders from Google, Meta, OpenAI and other major tech companies to sign a "Ratepayer Protection Pledge." The pledge, announced during Trump's recent State of the Union address, aims to ensure that the tech industry's artificial intelligence infrastructure expansion boom does not lead to higher electricity bills for households and small businesses. Sources indicate the pledge will likely include provisions for Big Tech to build new power plants or expand existing facilities to secure or purchase electricity directly for their data centers.
Sources also said the agreement will likely require Big Tech companies to cover costs for upgrading power supply systems and to negotiate special electricity rate agreements with utility companies.
However, some observers suggest these efforts may amount to little more than optics. John Gordon, a director at Advanced Energy United, a clean energy industry group with data center members, said: "The real problem is that we're not bringing generation online fast enough to keep up with data center demand. Hyperscalers paying for generation doesn't make it come online any faster."