Trump Moves to Make Tech Giants Pay for Surging Power Costs [View all]
Source: Bloomberg
January 15, 2026 at 5:35 PM EST
Updated on January 16, 2026 at 8:24 AM EST
President Donald Trump and the governors of several US Northeastern states agreed to push for an emergency wholesale electricity auction that would compel technology companies to effectively fund new power plants.
The unprecedented plan, set to be announced Friday morning, seeks to address growing tensions over how the nation can supply electricity to power-hungry data centers — seen as necessary to help win the global AI race — without simultaneously hiking utility bills for homes and businesses. The Trump administration and some US governors plan to direct grid operator PJM Interconnection LLC to hold an auction for tech companies to bid on 15-year contracts for new electricity generation capacity.
If the auction proceeds as envisaged, tech giants would pay for power over the duration of the contracts, whether they use the electricity or not, providing secure revenues for years in a market notorious for price volatility and generator bankruptcies. The auction would deliver contracts supporting the construction of some $15 billion worth of new power plants, said a White House official granted anonymity to detail the approach.
Still, representatives of PJM won’t be in attendance when the plan is laid out Friday. “We don’t have a lot to say on this,” PJM spokesman Jeffrey Shields said by email. “We were not invited to the event they are apparently having tomorrow and we will not be there.”
Read more: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-01-15/trump-to-direct-key-us-grid-operator-to-hold-emergency-auction?srnd=homepage-americas
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