Trump administration wants tech companies to buy $15B of power plants they may not use

The Trump administration is pushing for the country's largest electricity grid to add roughly $15 billion in new power generation — and wants technology companies to help pay for it, even if they never use the electricity.

The White House, along with governors from several states in the region, is urging the PJM Interconnection, the grid operator, to hold an auction for 15-year contracts for new generating capacity. Under the proposal, tech companies would be encouraged to bid on contracts, even if the additional power is not ultimately needed for their data centres. Electricity demand from data centres is expected to triple over the next decade.

PJM said it is reviewing the administration's "statement of principles" and noted that it will soon release findings from a months-long planning process focused on adding new grid capacity. The statement itself is nonbinding, and behind the scenes, PJM appears unenthusiastic about the administration's approach.

pic.twitter.com/OdHvjoc7Oj — PJM Interconnection (@pjminterconnect) January 16, 2026

"We don't have a lot to say on this," PJM spokesperson Jeffrey Shields told Bloomberg. "We were not invited to the event they are apparently having tomorrow and we will not be there."

PJM Interconnection serves more than 65 million people across 13 states in the Mid-Atlantic and Midwest, including northern Virginia, one of theworld's largest data centre hubs. Electricity prices in the region rose by roughly 10% to 15% in 2025 compared with the previous year.

According to Monitoring Analytics, PJM's peak electricity load has increased 10% over the past decade and is projected to rise another 6.5% by 2027. Much of the pressure has been attributed to technology companies and data centre operators, which are consuming growing amounts of power to support artificial intelligence workloads.

Natural gas prices have also played a significant role. PJM relies heavily on fossil fuels, particularly natural gas, and prices have surged recently. Monitoring Analytics estimates that about 60% of the electricity price increases in 2025 are tied to higher fossil fuel costs.

Grid operators are facing growing challenges as electricity demand from data centres accelerates after more than a decade of minimal growth. Building new fossil fuel power plants typically takes years and costs hundreds of millions of dollars. Utilities and power providers have been reluctant to commit to those investments, fearing that if the AI boom slows, they could be left with costly, underused facilities designed to operate for decades.

Tech companies, which traditionally have not owned power generation assets, have instead focused on renewable energy. Solar and battery storage projects have emerged as early favourites because they are cheaper, modular, and faster to deploy. A typical solar farm can be built in about 18 months and brought online in phases, allowing electricity to be delivered before full completion. That timeline more closely aligns with data centre construction schedules and helps companies manage financial risk.

As pressure mounts to meet rising electricity demand, the administration's proposal highlights growing tension between government planners, grid operators, and tech companies over who should bear the cost of building the next generation of U.S. power infrastructure.