Trump Administration Pushes Tech Giants to Fund New Power Plants, But Key Grid Operator Says It Wasn't Invited

The Trump administration is looking to make technology companies pay for the surging electricity demand driven by new data centers across the country. The White House is planning to ask PJM Interconnection, the nation's largest grid operator, to hold an emergency auction where tech firms would bid to build new power plants.

There's a hitch: PJM officials say they were not invited to Friday's White House event and will not be attending.

PJM manages the electrical grid across 13 states and the District of Columbia, making it a critical player in any effort to expand power generation capacity. The region has seen growing strain on electricity infrastructure as data centers—which require massive amounts of power to run servers and cooling systems—have proliferated to support artificial intelligence and cloud computing.

The administration's push reflects mounting concern over whether the existing grid can keep pace with demand from the tech sector. But without PJM's participation, it remains unclear how the proposed auction mechanism would move forward.