Major technology firms including Microsoft (MSFT), Amazon (AMZN), Alphabet (GOOGL), Oracle (ORCL), xAI, and OpenAI are planning to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump to discuss strategies for building their own power generation facilities to supply electricity to energy-intensive data centers. According to a White House spokesperson, Taylor Rogers, the companies will gather at the White House next week to formally sign the "Taxpayer Protection Pledge," an initiative originally announced in the president's recent historic State of the Union address. Under this ambitious plan, the tech giants will construct, introduce, or purchase power supplies specifically for their new AI data centers, ensuring that rising electricity demand does not lead to increased utility bills for American households.
In his Tuesday evening State of the Union speech, President Trump outlined the initiative without naming specific participating companies. He stated, "We are telling large technology companies that they have an obligation to meet their own power needs. America's grid is aging and simply cannot handle demand at this scale. That is why I am requiring them to build their own plants and generate their own electricity." Representatives from the involved companies are scheduled to meet with White House officials on March 4. Other expected attendees include U.S. Energy Secretary Chris White and Michael Kratsios, the President's Assistant and Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, both of whom are helping lead the initiative.
Microsoft last month disclosed its own plan to ensure that its data centers do not increase residential electricity rates, minimize water usage, and achieve water-positive operations—meaning they replenish more water than they consume. According to projections from the U.S. Department of Energy, data centers are expected to account for at least 12% of the nation's total electricity consumption by 2028.
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