White House Eyes $15B Grid Funding Plan That Could Require Big Tech to Internalize Energy Costs

For nearly two years, the artificial intelligence buildout has been framed as a strategic necessity for the country. In response, data centers have gone up at a record pace, capital spending has surged, and tech giants have raced to secure power capacity wherever they can find it. It’s no longer some distant, abstract trend either… just yesterday, my in-laws were telling me a Mag 7 company is putting one up not far from their house.

Now officials in Washington are turning their attention to who ultimately pays for all that expansion.

President Donald Trump’s trade and manufacturing adviser Peter Navarro said Sunday that the administration may force data center builders to absorb more of the infrastructure costs tied to their rapid expansion.

Speaking on Fox News, Navarro said companies “from Meta on down” should pay not only for the electricity they consume, but also for the grid upgrades and water usage their facilities require. “They need to pay for the resiliency that they’re affecting as well. They need to pay for the water,” he said, adding that the administration may move to “force them to internalize the cost.” Though it’s important to note, Navarro did not outline how such a policy would be structured.

The comments come as electricity prices remain elevated. Power costs rose 6.9% year over year in 2025, reflecting both higher generation costs and increased strain on regional grids. Data centers supporting artificial intelligence workloads have become a major contributor to that demand, particularly in regions served by PJM Interconnection, which operates across parts of the Mid-Atlantic and Midwest.

The issue has increasingly been framed as an affordability concern, with voters pointing to higher utility bills as a key source of frustration. While Navarro sought to blame inflation pressures on former President Joe Biden, recent polling averages show Americans growing more critical of the current administration’s handling of the economy ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.

The Trump administration has already taken preliminary steps in this area. In January, the White House and several Mid-Atlantic states urged PJM to require large technology firms to finance as much as $15 billion in new power generation capacity. The proposal also called for an emergency auction to accelerate procurement of additional electricity resources.

President Trump has also publicly referenced discussions with Microsoft to ensure Americans do not “pick up the tab” for the company’s power consumption. Microsoft said it would not raise local utility rates near its data centers and pledged to replenish water used in operations.

Separately, reports came out last week that the White House is drafting a compact for technology companies that would formalize commitments to prevent data center expansion from driving up consumer utility bills.

While the details are still being finalized, the comments suggest that large technology firms will shoulder a bigger share of the costs tied to grid expansion and resource usage.

AI capital spending remains strong. But if companies are asked to shoulder more infrastructure costs, that could start to factor into margins, site decisions and most importantly for investors… long-term returns.

At the time of publishing this article, Stocks.News holds positions in Meta and Microsoft as mentioned in the article.