Trump demands Amazon, Google and others to sign energy commitments to prevent data centers from "sucking" residents' bills.

The US political circle is taking emergency actions to try to stabilize the situation that may shake this year's congressional elections due to skyrocketing electricity costs. The US Department of Energy has issued $26.5 billion in loans - a record high - to assist large utility companies in the Southeast to reduce the cost of building new power plants in Georgia and Alabama. At the same time, the largest electricity grid operator in the country has proposed imposing a cap on wholesale prices, and some governors are considering freezing utility rates to curb electricity expenses. This affordability crisis prompted the White House to convene a meeting with tech giants on Wednesday. Trump called on companies such as Amazon, Meta, Microsoft, and Google's parent company Alphabet to sign commitments to foot the bill for energy-intensive data centers. These data centers have been accused of being the "culprit" for driving up electricity prices: in areas with active data centers, electricity expenses are 267% higher than five years ago; since 2020, the cumulative increase in electricity prices for American consumers has exceeded 30%.