US President Donald Trump has said that new and large data centres must produce their own electricity and sell or give any surplus to local communities or the grid, and that operators should pay residents a ‘dividend’ to win local support. Trump said he had been following data centres closely and had reached a ‘very strong conclusion’. He described the requirement as a mandate from him, covering new and in some cases gigantic facilities, and said the aim is to avoid higher power bills for locals. He added that bills could in fact fall substantially. He said other elements would be treated the same way. He also urged companies to pay either the community or individuals in it a dividend if they want their data centres to be accepted. Projects that were highly unpopular in some areas became extremely popular once a financial deal was struck, he said, and he urged companies to make deals and get the facilities built.
What was not specified
The remarks do not say how the mandate would be enforced, what size of facility counts as large, or how a dividend would be calculated or distributed.
The electricity-bill backlash
Local opposition to data centres has grown over worries about electricity prices, water use and pollution. A Fox News poll in July found 70 percent of voters oppose data centres in their own communities, with the most support among Trump voters at 46 percent and 80 percent of liberal voters opposed. Trump’s latest remarks follow his August post saying communities without data centres would end up “backwards and poor”. Vice President JD Vance then said that 99 percent of the backlash has come where data centres mean higher electricity prices for residents, and that builders should create their own power plants in line with administration policy.
