Don’t Buy the Bullshit: Trump’s Bill Will Increase Power Costs and Limit Supply 

Washington, D.C. – President Trump is gathering energy and AI leaders from around the globe, including more than 60 CEOs, to highlight the economic and national security advantages of developing AI infrastructure like data centers and power generation. And yet, less than two weeks ago, Republicans passed Trump’s budget bill that will dramatically increase the cost of powering these facilities and make it harder to secure the power for them. These AI and data centers are serving a critical role in maintaining America’s competitive edge over China, but if we can’t afford to power them, we automatically forfeit the race. 

AI is sending energy demand through the roof – and if we don’t keep up with that demand, costs will skyrocket. Clean energy is a critical part of the solution, but Trump and Republicans in Congress just gutted domestic energy production.

• According to Goldman Sachs, energy demand from data centers is expected to grow by 160% by 2030. These centers guzzle electricity around the clock and can consume as much power as a city. 
• Wind, solar, and battery power are the fastest growing forms of energy; together they made up 94% of all new energy capacity added last year. But their progress is undergoing significant setbacks from President Trump’s executive orders, tariffs, and the rollback of federal clean energy tax credits in Trump’s budget bill.
• Before Trump’s budget bill was passed, The Wall Street Journal reported that a group of heavyweight tech companies (Microsoft, Alphabet’s Google, Amazon.com and Meta Platforms) — the same ones joining today’s summit — asked the Republicans to preserve tax credits and loan funding for renewable energy sources. 
• Nonpartisan analysts at Energy Innovation project that the budget bill will severely impact the addition of energy capacity to the grid, leading to a loss of 340GW in new generation capacity by 2035. This blow to the American energy supply will make it impossible to keep up with dramatically rising demand from AI and data centers. 
• All of this is driving up electricity prices for data centers and families alike. Across the country, the repeal of incentives in Trump’s budget bill will increase the average American family’s utility bill by $400 within a decade. 

In Pennsylvania, Senator McCormick is touting the state as an ideal hub for data centers, but the commonwealth is already failing to meet demand. 

• The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission’s 2023 reliability report found that only two of 11 electric utilities in the state met reliability standards in all performance categories over the past three years.
• Pennsylvania’s grid operator has repeatedly reported that its energy demand is set to outpace production.

Pennsylvania will only need more energy as data centers expand

• Pennsylvania is already home to 88 data centers, and the state ranks among the top three emerging markets for data centers.
• Planned data centers in the state could demand as much as 1,000 MW of power, with a single data center accounting for as much as 30% of Duquesne Light Company’s peak load, which was nearly 2,700 MW in 2024.
• Duquesne Light Company projects planned data centers in Pennsylvania could use 900 to 1,000 MW. The utility said a single data center could account for as much as 30% of its current peak load in Allegheny and Beaver counties.

What Leaders in Energy and AI are Saying

• John Ketchum, President and CEO, NextEra Energy: “If we take renewables off the table, we are going to have a real power shortage problem… We’ll create our own reliability problem just by not having enough electrons to be able to satisfy all the demand we’re going to see. We’ll lose the AI race.”
• Matt Eggers, managing director, Prelude Ventures: “Eliminating those incentives would hobble our nascent AI industry and stall efforts at onshoring advanced manufacturing. The United States would surrender market share to nations that view energy abundance as a strategic asset, forfeit high‑quality jobs and slow the very innovation that keeps us competitive.”
• Doug Lewin, Texas energy analyst: “As it stands, the budget bill would worsen the energy outlook for reliability & affordability, and harm our economic competitiveness & growth. It’s the opposite of abundance or dominance; it would result in energy scarcity, inflation, and submission.”
• Avery Ash, Head of Government Affairs, Securing America’s Future Energy: “This is outright energy surrender—all but guaranteeing Chinese dominance of critical minerals, industrial supply chains, and AI development. It snatches defeat from the jaws of victory.