President Donald Trump has urged builders of data centers and AI hyperscalers to pay a dividend to the communities that host them, with the goal of offsetting energy-related price increases or even lowering local costs. The call came in a post on Truth Social, according to Tom's Hardware, and is meant to make the facilities easier for residents to accept.
In the post, Trump warned that data centers would be required not only to generate their own electricity, as he has said before, but also to give or sell any surplus energy back to the local community.
Communities across the United States have protested against AI data centers, frequently citing the heavy burden the facilities place on their surroundings. Residents of smaller towns have raised concerns about rising electricity bills, noise, water shortages, air pollution and deforestation, among other effects.
The administration is keen to stay ahead of China in the race for AI and appears to be looking for ways to win back goodwill by having the companies give something back to affected areas. How the plan would work in practice has not yet been spelled out.
Given the focus on electricity in the post, the dividend could take the form of partial payment of rising power costs, a pain point that directly affects many households near data centers. Surplus electricity from the companies' own generation could further reduce local prices. The administration has previously ordered these companies to produce their own power, and a recently passed act requires data centers to cover the cost of grid upgrades so those expenses do not fall on local taxpayers.
Trump argued that opposition fades once money is involved. "Data Centers that were highly unpopular in a certain area have become extremely popular when a financial deal is struck," he wrote, closing with the instruction: "MAKE DEALS, and get them built!!!"
Whether dividends will be enough to win over residents remains unclear, because the cost of electricity is only one part of the objections. Enormous water consumption, ecological damage and pollution remain major challenges that make AI data centers a difficult proposition wherever they are proposed.
