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Donald Trump and a number of state governors are pushing the US’s largest electrical grid operator to hold an emergency auction to make tech giants foot the bill for AI power infrastructure.

The administration along with governors of states including Pennsylvania, Ohio and Virginia have directed PJM — which serves more than 67mn people in the US north-east and Midwest — to hold a power auction in which big data centre operators bid for 15-year contracts to build new power plants.

Such contracts could support the construction of about $15bn worth of new power plants, with tech companies paying for them regardless of whether they use the resulting electricity, a White House official confirmed.

PJM did not respond to a request for comment. It is unclear if the grid operator will meet politicians’ demand to hold an emergency auction.

The US president is seeking to address a backlash over rising utility bills as part of his wider effort to promote affordability. The increase in power costs has been driven in part by massive demand from data centres, which the administration and tech companies view as aiding economic growth and vital to the US in its race against its AI rivals.

Residential electricity costs have risen by 13 per cent since January 2025, according to data from the US Energy Information Administration.

According to BloombergNEF, US data centre energy demand will surge from 34.7 gigawatts in 2024 to 106GW by 2035. The flood of demand will require massive investment in power plants and transmission lines, which affordability advocates fear will drive up customer bills.

Concerns about affordability have already resonated in political races across the country. Democratic governors-elect Mikie Sherrill of New Jersey and Abigail Spanberger of Virginia won their races in November after promising to keep utility rates down.

On Monday Trump took to Truth Social to demand tech companies “pay their way”, after which Microsoft pledged to pay higher electricity rates in areas it builds data centres to cover the cost of new infrastructure.

PJM, the grid operator for “data centre alley” in Virginia — which handles 70 per cent of the world’s search traffic — has come under fire for its failure to prevent runaway costs.

PJM sets costs through an auction where plants submit the minimum price they need to provide power for the year ahead. It then starts by picking the lowest bidders, but the price is set by the final, most expensive bid. Those costs are then passed on to utilities and customers. As demand for power increases, the bids of more expensive plants are accepted.

The emergency proposal would take the unusual step of making tech companies pay for the costs of the power sold from the auction.

Pennsylvania governor Josh Shapiro — a participant in the announcement — has led efforts to keep costs down, introducing a price cap in early 2025. The two subsequent auctions in July and December hit the cap.

PJM can hold extra auctions should regularly timed ones fail to procure enough capacity, as was the case in December.