Trump wants tech firms to ‘pay their own way’ as power demand soars

US President Donald Trump has pledged to make major tech companies “pick up the tab” for their power usage to prevent everyday Americans from paying more for electricity.

“I never want Americans to pay higher electricity bills because of data centers,” Trump said on his social media platform Truth Social on Tuesday.

He blamed the Democrats for surging household electricity bills and vowed to work with major American tech giants to “secure their commitment to the American People,” with an announcement in the coming weeks.

The average price of electricity per kilowatt-hour in the United States has increased around 40% over the past five years, according to the St. Louis Fed. 

Electricity price increases have varied widely by state and utility region, with rates influenced by fuel costs, grid investment and local regulatory structures, according to US energy data.

The president said that Microsoft, with whom his team has been working, will make major changes beginning this week “to ensure that Americans don’t ‘pick up the tab’ for their power consumption, in the form of paying higher utility bills.”

Microsoft has not publicly confirmed the changes referenced by Trump, and it was not immediately clear what measures he was referring to.

“We are the ‘hottest’ country in the world, and number one in AI. Data centers are key to that boom, and keeping Americans free and secure, but the big technology companies who build them must ‘pay their own way’.” 

Data center power demand surging 

In 2025, US data center demand accounted for 5.2% of America’s total power usage, or 224 terawatt hours (TWh), up 21% from the previous year, according to Visual Capitalist.

By 2030, McKinsey & Company projected that electricity consumption from US data centers could top 600 TWh, or 11.7% of all American power.

Electricity price increases have varied widely by state and utility region, with rates influenced by fuel costs, grid investment and local regulatory structures, according to US energy data.

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Cooling accounts for 30% to 40% of total facility energy use, while servers and IT equipment consume approximately 40% to 60% of total facility power, according to Network Installers.

Meanwhile, the International Energy Agency estimates that AI-focused data center electricity demand is growing at around 30% annually, compared to 9% for conventional server workloads.

Bitcoin mining power usage

Bitcoin mining is also a power-hungry operation that relies on huge data centers to crunch the numbers in search of the next block. 

The sector remains contentious among policymakers and energy analysts, with critics arguing that large-scale mining can strain local grids, while industry participants contend its impact is often overstated.

However, last week, ESG expert Daniel Batten compared the national rise in US utility bills between 2021 and 2024 to the part of the country where there was an anomalously high concentration of Bitcoin mining, Texas, finding that they were very similar.  

“Neither in the data nor in peer-reviewed studies is there evidence to support the claim that Bitcoin mining increases power bills for consumers,” he concluded. 

Other researchers and advocacy groups dispute that conclusion, pointing to localized grid congestion and infrastructure costs in regions with high concentrations of mining activity.

Bitcoin mining advocates say the industry can offer environmental benefits, such as removing bottlenecks to on-grid renewables, funding green energy research and development and eliminating harmful methane emissions.

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