71 Percent Oppose: Trump Urges AI Data Centers to Pay Local Dividends
(MENAFN) President Donald Trump on Wednesday pressed operators of massive artificial intelligence data centers to share the wealth with the communities that host them, as anger over climbing energy costs mounts.
Writing on Truth Social, Trump argued that projects facing fierce local resistance tend to win acceptance quickly once residents see a direct financial payoff.
“If companies want to make their data centers popular, pay the community, and/or individuals within the community, a ‘dividend,’” Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social.
Trump also insisted that the facilities must not drain public utilities. New and large data centers, he said, are required to “make their own electricity, and give or sell any excess back to the local community, or grid,” a step he claimed would head off utility inflation and could deliver “a substantial decrease” in electricity rates.
The scale of the buildout is significant. The US Department of Commerce says the country has more than 5,000 data centers, with the sector projected to grow about 9% a year through 2030.
The push arrives as friction over power consumption intensifies ahead of the 2026 midterm elections, fueled by the AI boom. Opposition is strongly bipartisan: a Gallup poll found 71% of Americans resist local data center developments, fearing the facilities will drive up household utility bills.
The call builds on the voluntary Ratepayer Protection Pledge Trump launched in March, which urged technology firms to absorb all power generation and transmission costs.
Writing on Truth Social, Trump argued that projects facing fierce local resistance tend to win acceptance quickly once residents see a direct financial payoff.
“If companies want to make their data centers popular, pay the community, and/or individuals within the community, a ‘dividend,’” Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social.
Trump also insisted that the facilities must not drain public utilities. New and large data centers, he said, are required to “make their own electricity, and give or sell any excess back to the local community, or grid,” a step he claimed would head off utility inflation and could deliver “a substantial decrease” in electricity rates.
The scale of the buildout is significant. The US Department of Commerce says the country has more than 5,000 data centers, with the sector projected to grow about 9% a year through 2030.
The push arrives as friction over power consumption intensifies ahead of the 2026 midterm elections, fueled by the AI boom. Opposition is strongly bipartisan: a Gallup poll found 71% of Americans resist local data center developments, fearing the facilities will drive up household utility bills.
The call builds on the voluntary Ratepayer Protection Pledge Trump launched in March, which urged technology firms to absorb all power generation and transmission costs.
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