President Trump said he is requiring companies that build large data centers in the U.S. to provide their own electricity and suggested they pay communities hosting facilities a dividend, his latest steps to address widespread opposition to the artificial-intelligence boom ahead of the midterm elections.
"New and large, in some cases gigantic, data (c)enters are mandated by me to make their own electricity, and give or sell any excess back to the local community, or grid," Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social early Wednesday.
The president had previously recommended that data centers provide their own power to avoid passing electricity costs on to locals, a key source of anger in communities hosting the facilities, but his promise to require it appeared to be a new step. While the largest tech companies have often pledged to build new power plants for their projects, doing so is costly and requires navigating local regulations, making it a potential challenge for smaller developers in certain states.
Earlier this year, Trump got many companies to pledge to either provide their own power or procure it in a way that minimized community disruptions, but opposition to data centers has only increased in recent months. Many Democrats, including Senate candidates Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan, Texas' James Talarico and Sherrod Brown of Ohio, are using the issue to attack their opponents on the campaign trail.
It isn't clear how the new mandate could be enforced. Companies that agreed to Trump's previous pledge have projects in electricity markets covering roughly 80% of the power delivered to homes and businesses in the U.S., a White House official said.
Trump also said that to make data centers more popular, companies should "pay the community, and/or individuals within the community, a 'dividend,'" another step some in the industry have taken to ensure that locals share in the potentially billions of dollars worth of financial benefits.
Amazon and Meta recently said they would each put at least $1 billion into communities hosting their data centers. White House officials and industry allies have touted the upgrades to local schools, infrastructure and services that can be made with the tax revenue the facilities generate as well as the jobs that are created.
Many towns and states across the country are still pursuing moratoriums on new data-center approvals and trying to roll back tax exemptions.
Trump's approach to the issue appears to have shifted. He previously warned communities resisting data-center developments that they risk being left behind.
"The only reason that communities throughout the U.S.A. should not want Data Centers is if they want to end up being backwards and poor," Trump wrote on Truth Social in August. "If they want to be successful and rich, with far lower taxes and jobs all over the place, let Data Reign."
Such pro-data-center sentiment put Trump at odds with most Americans who say they don't want the facilities that power AI to be built near them.
In a March survey of Americans by Gallup, 71% of respondents said they would oppose the construction of one in their local area. By comparison, just 53% said they would oppose a nuclear energy plant.
Political pressure has been mounting at a local level, causing politicians who previously supported tech investment to pull back. Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, a Democrat who once aggressively courted AI-development and is a potential 2028 presidential candidate, signed an executive order imposing strict environmental and infrastructure requirements on new data center projects.
Under the new rules, developers must meet stringent state guardrails regarding water usage, workforce commitments and energy procurement to avoid shifting utility costs to residents.
In Texas, Gov. Greg Abbott has significantly cooled his stance on such projects. Last November, Abbott declared his state the "epicenter of AI development" while announcing a $40 billion investment by Google. Less than a year later, the Republican said he halted approvals of some 1,800 new data centers worth billions of dollars on concerns that they use too much power and water, drawing the ire of Trump.
Abbott is in a tight race against Democrat Gina Hinojosa, who has targeted him on the issue.