Trump tells data center companies to 'MAKE DEALS' with local communities
The president urged data center companies to strike deals with host communities. The sources tie it to no order or rule, and it lands as local opposition grows and data center stocks are under pressure.
By James Mitchell ·
For information only, not investment advice.
President Donald Trump on Wednesday urged data center companies to "MAKE DEALS" with local communities to ensure their support for the costly facilities, CNBC reported.
What the remarks are not, at least in the reporting so far, is a rule. None of the sources reviewed for this story ties them to an executive order, a regulation or any enforcement mechanism, or says how such deals would be structured or how much would be paid. Trump said operators should pay communities, or residents, a "dividend," according to CNBC and Anadolu. For now it is a presidential statement.
Anadolu Agency described the remarks as building on Trump's voluntary Ratepayer Protection Pledge, which it said was established in March and called on technology firms to cover all power generation and transmission costs.
The backdrop is both political and financial. Data centers have become a hot-button issue ahead of the November midterm elections, CNBC reported, with public opposition to the buildout and its environmental impact growing and multiple states considering moratoriums. Access to power is a major constraint on the sector, CNBC added, as grids in the US and Europe are overwhelmed with applications from large energy users like data centers.
For investors, CNBC reported that data center stocks have come under pressure this week amid concerns about the sector's financial health, as companies increasingly turn to debt markets to finance AI infrastructure deals. HSBC CEO Georges Elhedery told CNBC on Tuesday that investors in AI infrastructure need to choose carefully. "One has to be selective," he said.
Sources
Tags: ai · white-house · energy