Trump Says Large Data Centers Must Generate Their Own Power

President Donald Trump said on Truth Social that new large data centers are "mandated by me to make their own electricity, and give or sell any excess back to the local community, or grid," The Hill reports. He said this would prevent electricity price increases and could bring "a substantial decrease."

In an earlier post on Wednesday, Trump urged data center operators to pay communities, "and/or individuals within the community, a 'dividend'" to win local support, CNBC reported. "MAKE DEALS, and get them built!!!" he wrote.

The posts did not say how such a requirement would be put in place. Data centers have become a political issue ahead of the November midterm elections, with communities raising concerns about electricity costs, water and land use. Companies including Meta, Amazon and Google have agreed to pay for increased energy costs from their data centers through Trump's ratepayer protection pledge, and New York has frozen new hyperscale data centers statewide.