VST, CEG, TLN Stocks Rise Pre-Market On Trump-Backed Push For Long-Term AI Power Contracts

President Trump and governors of states, including those of Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Virginia, have urged PJM Interconnection LLC to hold an auction for tech companies.

• According to the International Energy Agency, global data center electricity consumption is expected to grow by 15% per year between 2024 and 2030.
• This is more than four times faster than the growth of total electricity consumption from all other sectors, the agency said.
• In its base case, IEA expects data center electricity needs to rise to 945 Terawatt-hours by 2030.

Energy stocks are in focus on Friday after President Donald Trump’s latest push to get Big Tech to pay for their artificial intelligence (AI) related energy needs.

According to a Bloomberg report, President Trump and governors of states, including Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Virginia, have urged PJM Interconnection LLC to hold an auction for tech companies to bid on 15-year contracts to secure capacity to meet their power needs for AI applications.

The plan is reportedly going to be announced on Friday.

Shares of Vistra Corp. (VST) were up nearly 3% pre-market on Friday, while Constellation Energy Corp. (CEG) and Talen Energy Corp. (TLN) shares gained nearly 2% each at the time of writing.

Retail sentiment on Stocktwits around Vistra and Talen was in the ‘bullish’ territory, while users felt ‘bearish’ about Constellation.

Power-Hungry AI Data Centers

The Trump administration’s push for tech companies to participate in auctions with 15-year contracts comes at a time when there is a growing concern that power-hungry AI data centers will result in a demand-supply mismatch, causing power prices to rise for regular users.

However, PJM officials will not attend the Friday event. “We don’t have a lot to say on this. We were not invited to the event they are apparently having tomorrow, and we will not be there,” PJM spokesperson Jeffrey Shields told Bloomberg.

According to the International Energy Agency, global data center electricity consumption is expected to grow by 15% per year between 2024 and 2030. This is more than four times the growth rate of total electricity consumption from all other sectors, the agency said.

In its base case, IEA expects data center electricity needs to rise to 945 Terawatt-hours by 2030.

Microsoft’s Community-First AI Infrastructure

Earlier this week, Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) announced a new initiative named Community-First AI Infrastructure, following a push from President Trump.

The company stated that under this initiative, it will pay utility rates that are high enough to cover its electricity costs. This is an attempt to make sure the company’s data centers don’t increase electricity costs for commoners.

VST stock is up 12% year-to-date, CEG stock is down 3%, while TLN stock has gained 12%.

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