Trump says he’s requiring data centers to provide their own electricity

President Trump said Wednesday he will require data centers to provide their own electricity and give “any excess” energy to neighboring communities to prevent rising electrical costs.

“As the President of the United States, I have been watching Data Centers very closely, and have come to a very strong conclusion,” Trump wrote on Truth Social . “New and large, in some cases gigantic, Data Centers are mandated by me to make their own electricity, and give or sell any excess back to the local community, or grid, and therefore there is electric price increase.”

“In fact, there could be a substantial decrease. Other elements likewise!” Trump continued.

The president added that , while data centers have been “highly unpopular in a certain area,” they are “extremely popular when a financial deal is struck.”

“MAKE DEA L S, and get them built!!!” he concluded.

Tech companies have argued, in line with Trump’s embrace of establishing AI infrastructure, that establishing data centers is necessary to support the emerging technology’s development. Dozens of companies — such as Meta, Amazon and Google — have agreed to pay for increased energy costs caused by their data centers through Trump’s ratepayer protection pledge.

A medium-sized data center can consume up to about 110 million gallons of water per year for cooling purposes, equivalent to the annual water usage of roughly 1,000 households, according to an analysis by the nonprofit Environmental and Energy Study Institute last year .

The president claimed last month that critics of data centers want “ poverty, crime and squalor .” He accused communities against data centers of wanting to be “ backwards and poor .” Earlier this month, amid a tight Senate race in Ohio, Trump emphasized how “much money” the state would make , as some Ohioans criticized the data center development.

“You can’t just turn them off. They’ll go to China,” Trump said at a rally for Sen. Jon Husted (R-Ohio), whom opponents in the Buckeye State have criticized for wanting to bring data centers to Ohio while serving as lieutenant governor.

Americans have grown wary of such projects over concerns they could result in higher electricity costs, strain water resources and produce noise or air pollution. Some communities have seen greater tax revenue brought in by data centers , while others used tax breaks to attract investments.

States including Ohio and Illinois have paused such tax incentive programs in recent months, while others have moved even more aggressively. New York instituted the nation’s first statewide freeze on new “hyperscale” data centers.

The push against AI has also been driven by concerns over the risks posed by rogue software, particularly after recent attempted and successful hacks into government websites. These fears also come following a warning from former OpenAI and Anthropic researcher Jacob Coxon that AI could become an existential threat to humanity by the end of the decade.