President Donald Trump praised the rapid expansion of data centers across the United States on Thursday, calling the facilities “absolutely incredible” and arguing they will play a key role in lowering electricity costs for American families.
Trump made the remarks during a roughly 20-minute speech at the Environmental Protection Agency’s headquarters in Washington, D.C., where he described data center development as a “really important subject” and highlighted the administration’s efforts to support the growing industry.
“It is something that you’re very familiar with. The people in the room are real doers. It’s an amazing group,” Trump said as he addressed attendees.
The president said his administration is focused on ensuring the continued construction of data centers while also working to reduce energy costs for consumers.
“We are here today to continue the incredible progress we are making in communities nationwide, to ensure that as new data centers go up, and they’re going up all over, electricity bills for American families will actually come down,” Trump said.
According to the president, companies constructing the facilities are increasingly planning to generate their own electricity rather than relying solely on the existing power grid.
“You’re going to be building your own data centers, and you’re going to build your own electric plants,” Trump said. “You are essentially becoming a utility, like Con Edison in New York.”
He suggested the scale of those projects could surpass what many have seen before.
“But maybe at a level that nobody’s ever seen before, because we’ve seen some of the plants they’re building are absolutely incredible. They’re absolutely incredible,” Trump said.
The president also emphasized the enormous amount of electricity required to support the expanding industry.
“Electric plants, electric manufacturing plants. It’s hard to believe, but you need double the electricity that we have right now, maybe even more than that to really fulfill what you want to do,” he said.
Trump argued that relying on the nation’s aging electrical infrastructure would not have been sufficient to meet the industry’s growing demands.
“We’re leading China by a lot, and using our old grid would not have worked,” Trump said. “I came up with the idea: build your own plant. Nobody can complain. You won’t call me and say what a terrible job I’m doing because we have a 200-year-old grid that’s not the best in the world.”
The president also pointed to California while discussing challenges facing parts of the nation’s electric grid.
“You look at some places. Take a look at California; they have brownouts and blackouts every weekend,” Trump said. “The last thing they are going to be able to do is supply electric at numbers.”
Trump acknowledged that he has never fully understood why the facilities require such large amounts of electricity.
“Nobody has ever explained to me why it’s so much electricity, why you need so much. Nor did I care that much, to be honest with you,” he said.
The administration’s push for expanded data center construction comes as public opinion on the issue appears divided.
An Emerson College poll published this week found that 63% of U.S. voters oppose the construction of data centers in their own communities. According to the report, opponents frequently cite environmental concerns as a primary reason for their opposition.
The survey was conducted on July 19 and July 20.
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