Trump Moves to Make Tech Giants Pay for Surging Power Costs

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: Bloomberg

January 15, 2026 at 5:35 PM EST
Updated on January 16, 2026 at 8:24 AM EST


President Donald Trump and the governors of several US Northeastern states agreed to push for an emergency wholesale electricity auction that would compel technology companies to effectively fund new power plants.

The unprecedented plan, set to be announced Friday morning, seeks to address growing tensions over how the nation can supply electricity to power-hungry data centers — seen as necessary to help win the global AI race — without simultaneously hiking utility bills for homes and businesses. The Trump administration and some US governors plan to direct grid operator PJM Interconnection LLC to hold an auction for tech companies to bid on 15-year contracts for new electricity generation capacity.

If the auction proceeds as envisaged, tech giants would pay for power over the duration of the contracts, whether they use the electricity or not, providing secure revenues for years in a market notorious for price volatility and generator bankruptcies. The auction would deliver contracts supporting the construction of some $15 billion worth of new power plants, said a White House official granted anonymity to detail the approach.

Still, representatives of PJM won’t be in attendance when the plan is laid out Friday. “We don’t have a lot to say on this,” PJM spokesman Jeffrey Shields said by email. “We were not invited to the event they are apparently having tomorrow and we will not be there.”

Read more: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-01-15/trump-to-direct-key-us-grid-operator-to-hold-emergency-auction?srnd=homepage-americas

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No paywall (gift)

[Lovie777]

1. Never will happen.............

shithole first language - lie while making up shit.

[Prairie Gates]

2. Retail consumers will continue to be robbed for the profit of the tech bros

Fuck the "global AI race."

[bucolic_frolic]

3. Win the global AI race

I thought AI was to help humanity. How do you win the AI race? It's available to everyone. Profits, is that what they're talking about? Guess it's not going to be free.

They're going to patent intelligence? You can't use if you don't buy a license to use it?

Do you win if AI uses up all resources for everything? Who will be left to consume what's produced?

Seems like a giant boondoggle, a Potemkin for that Ages

[modrepub]

4. Possible Pitfalls

Relying on AI businesses to be around longer than 5 years seems a stretch to me. PJM projected about a 6%/year growth in electric demand for the last 2 decades. In reality, electric growth was flat during that time. Predictions out much beyond a year or so aren’t worth the paper they’re printed on.

$15B on new plants seems low considering projected demand. A new 1GW NG combined cycle power plant was about $1B. Combined cycle are twice as efficient as old coal plants but still take many years to permit and build. Am worried in a rush they’ll put simple cycle plants in that are half as efficient and produce way more pollution.

Rushing things leads to mistakes. My guess is there will be a big mess to clean up both environmentally and economically.

[Prairie Gates]

6. Remember, the separation of generation and transmission assets in 1996 was supposed

to increase competition and thereby improve the energy sector. All hail FERC orders 888 and 889! Free to choose at last! The deregulation of utilities was going to spark a beautiful market in generation assets, allowing more entrants and thereby miraculously solving all the problems! Hurrah, markets are the true face of human freedom and the best way to organize everything.

Now, 30 years later, we get this:

providing secure revenues for years in a market notorious for price volatility and generator bankruptcies.

Oh, is that right? The government has to step in to force purchases in order to correct the utter failure of the market?

The US utilities sector: Another neoliberal lie.

You know who got rich as hell behind this nonsense, though? Goldman Sachs made huge bank for years selling bonds on generation assets. So did all the other underwriters in those bond syndicates. And the corporate lawyers. And the traders. Guess who got fucking ganked monthly with increased and ever increasing energy costs. That/s right: YOU.

[underpants]

5. Trump is dipping into progressive ideas

Limiting credit card %
This

I’m fine with it. I expect Her Excellency Gov. Spanberger to move towards this idea here in Virginia. 70% of the world’s internet runs through Virginia

[dweller]

7. Is this part of the plan (scam) ?

https://www.democraticunderground.com/1127187316




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