White House Pushes AI Giants to Cover Rising Energy Costs

Most major tech firms have already pledged to pay for their own energy needs to avoid passing costs to consumers.

Published on Feb. 25, 2026

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The White House is calling on major AI and tech companies to cover the rising electricity costs associated with their data centers, which have contributed to a more than 6% increase in the national average electricity price over the past year. While the White House has not released details on the policy, many tech giants like Microsoft, OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google have already made public commitments to build their own power sources or pay higher rates to avoid passing costs to residential customers.

Why it matters

The proliferation of energy-intensive AI data centers has become a political liability for the tech industry, with concerns that rising consumer electricity prices could impact voters ahead of the upcoming elections. The White House is seeking to address this issue by pressuring companies to take responsibility for their own energy needs.

The details

In his State of the Union address, President Trump said the administration is "telling the major tech companies that they have the obligation to provide for their own power needs" and can "build their own power plants as part of their factory, so that no one's prices will go up." Several tech firms have already made public commitments to cover electricity costs, including Microsoft, OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google, which recently announced the largest battery project in the world to support a data center in Minnesota.

  • In the last year, the national average electricity price has increased by more than 6%.
  • On January 11, Microsoft announced a policy "to ensure that the electricity cost of serving our datacenters is not passed on to residential customers."
  • On January 26, OpenAI committed to "paying its own way on energy, so that our operations don't increase your energy prices."
  • On February 11, Anthropic pledged to "cover electricity price increases that consumers face from our data centers."
  • Yesterday, Google announced the largest battery project in the world to support a data center in Minnesota.

The players

Donald Trump

The President of the United States, who addressed the issue of rising electricity costs from tech companies' data centers in his State of the Union speech.

Microsoft

A major tech company that has committed to ensuring its data centers do not pass on electricity costs to residential customers.

OpenAI

An artificial intelligence research company that has pledged to pay for its own energy needs to avoid increasing consumer electricity prices.

Anthropic

An AI company that has committed to covering any electricity price increases faced by consumers due to its data centers.

Google

A tech giant that has announced the largest battery project in the world to support a data center in Minnesota.

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What they’re saying

“We're telling the major tech companies that they have the obligation to provide for their own power needs. They can build their own power plants as part of their factory, so that no one's prices will go up.”

— Donald Trump, President of the United States (State of the Union Address)

“A handshake agreement with Big Tech over data center costs isn't good enough. Americans need a guarantee that energy prices won't soar and communities have a say.”

— Mark Kelly, Democratic Senator from Arizona (Social Media)

What’s next

Next week, companies will send representatives to formally sign the White House pledge, although the specific details of the agreement have not been confirmed.

The takeaway

The White House's push for tech giants to cover their own energy costs reflects growing political pressure on the industry to address the impact of their data centers on electricity prices. While many companies have already made commitments, the long-term solution may require significant investments in on-site power generation to avoid straining the broader energy grid.