President Trump is reportedly plotting an 'emergency power auction' that would strong-arm tech companies into bankrolling new power plants to stop electricity bills from skyrocketing. This high-stakes gambit could send shockwaves through the cryptocurrency sector and the broader economy before the 2026 midterms, turning the grid into the ultimate degen play.
According to Bloomberg, Trump, alongside governors from several Northeastern US states, is leaning on PJM—the country's largest electricity grid operator—to hold a power auction. The effort is expected to take the form of a non-binding 'statement of principles' signed by Trump's National Energy Dominance Council and governors from states like Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Virginia, essentially putting the grid on a performance-enhancing regimen.
The plan would see tech firms bid for 15-year contracts to build new power plants. These contracts could underpin roughly $15 billion in new generation, with tech companies covering the costs regardless of whether they actually use the electricity, a bet so bold it makes a YOLO trade look like a treasury bond. PJM supplies power to over 67 million people across a region from the Mid-Atlantic to the Midwest and already hosts the world's largest concentration of data centers, particularly in northern Virginia, where the servers are sweating more than a day trader during a flash crash.
This proposed emergency auction marks a significant intervention in US energy markets. While President Trump has highlighted falling oil and gasoline prices since taking office, electricity costs have moved in the opposite direction as demand rises, proving that the only thing cheaper than a meme coin is a politician's promise. A growing share of that demand comes from large data centers. The administration and tech companies argue these are essential for economic expansion and maintaining the US's competitive edge in AI, but they also contribute to higher household electricity costs, leaving regular folks paying for the AI gold rush.
In September 2025, the average US retail electricity price rose 7.4% to a record 18.07 cents per kilowatt-hour. Residential prices jumped 10.5% between January and August 2025, one of the largest rises in over ten years. As The Kobeissi Letter noted, "The ongoing electricity crisis we are facing due to AI demand will only get worse without intervention," a sentiment that resonates louder than a crypto Twitter Spaces at 3 AM.
The competition for electricity now favors artificial intelligence operations. Bitcoin miners, who once depended on cheap power for a competitive advantage, are being displaced as AI data centers lock in long-term power contracts, a pivot more dramatic than a shitcoin going to zero. In Texas, large-scale power requests hit 226 gigawatts in 2025, with AI companies accounting for about 73% of new applications, overtaking Bitcoin miners. Utilities prefer AI data centers because they require continuous, reliable power and pay higher rates, treating miners like an ex who borrowed money and never paid it back.
This economic reality has forced major miners, including Galaxy Digital, CleanSpark, and IREN, to adapt. In November, Bitfarms announced plans to convert its Washington State mining facility to support HPC/AI workloads. Bitfarms CEO Ben Gagnon stated, "We believe that the conversion of just our Washington site to GPU-as-a-Service could potentially produce more net operating income than we have ever generated with Bitcoin mining, providing the Company with a strong cashflow foundation that could fund opex, G&A, and debt service and contribute to capex as we wind down our Bitcoin mining business in 2026 and 2027," essentially swapping hash rates for rendering rates in a calculated survival move.
If electricity costs genuinely fall as a result of Trump's proposed emergency power auction, Bitcoin miners would benefit in straightforward economic terms. Mining profitability is tied to power prices—cheaper electricity lowers operating costs and improves margins. Any increase in generation capacity that eases supply constraints could provide indirect relief to miners, particularly in regions experiencing the highest price pressure. This could also slow the ongoing shift toward AI-focused infrastructure, allowing some mining operations to remain competitive rather than pivoting to HPC workloads. However, the proposal focuses on long-term investment in new power generation, meaning its effects would materialize gradually rather than immediately, a slow-burn rally rather than a sudden moon.
