Trump Pushes Emergency Auction to Curb AI Energy Costs
A bipartisan push to make data centers pay for their own electricity hits a snag: nobody told the grid operator.
President Trump has a plan to keep your lights on while ChatGPT learns to write poetry, and it involves a heavy dose of “pay-to-play” for Silicon Valley. In a strategy session slated for today at the White House, the administration is set to unveil an "emergency wholesale electricity auction" designed to force tech giants into funding their own energy gluttony.
The logic is simple: if Big Tech wants to drink from the firehose of the American power grid, they need to pay for the plumbing. But in a twist that would make a sit-com writer blush, the entity actually responsible for that plumbing, PJM Interconnection, the nation’s largest grid operator, was reportedly not invited to the party.
The "You Break It, You Buy It" Doctrine
The White House’s proposal, drafted with input from a bipartisan clutch of governors, aims to compel PJM to hold a special auction. The goal? Lock companies like Microsoft, Amazon, and Google into 15-year "take-or-pay" contracts. This means tech firms would be on the hook for a set amount of power whether they use it or not, providing a guaranteed revenue stream to finance an estimated $15 billion in new power generation.
The administration’s messaging is clear: regular Americans shouldn't see their utility bills spike just because a data center moved in next door. It’s a classic populist play, framing the narrative as Main Street vs. The Server Farm.

