Microsoft announces a glut of new data centers but says it won’t let its electricity bill go up

Although Backlash from the audience Attacks against data centers have been intense over the past 12 months, and all major companies in the technology industry have promised additional build-out of AI infrastructure in the coming year. This includes OpenAI partner Microsoft, which, on Tuesday, Announce what He calls it a “community first” approach to AI infrastructure.

Microsoft’s announcement comes just one day after Mark Zuckerberg’s announcement He said that Meta will launch its own AI infrastructure software, which is unexpected. Last year, the company announced that it was planning to do so Spending billions to expand its AI capacity. What’s a bit unusual are the promises the company has now made about how it will handle this build.

Microsoft on Tuesday promised to take “necessary steps to be a good neighbor in the communities where we build, own, and operate our data centers.” This includes, according to the company, its plans to “pay our own way” to ensure local electricity bills do not rise to the highest levels in the places where it builds. Specifically, the company says it will work with local utility companies to ensure that the rates they pay cover their full share of their burden on the local grid.

“We will work closely with the utility companies that set electricity prices and the government committees that approve these prices,” Microsoft said. “Our goal is clear and straightforward: to ensure that the cost of electricity to serve our data centers is not passed on to residential customers.”

The company also promised to create job opportunities in the communities where it is located, in addition to reducing the amount of water its centers need to operate. Obviously, water use in data centers has been a controversial topic with data centers accused To create substantive issues for local water supplies and motivate others Environmental concerns. The promise of job creation is also important, given its longevity Questions about it The number of short-term and permanent jobs these projects typically create.

It’s pretty clear why Microsoft feels it’s necessary to make these promises now. The construction of data centers has become a political flashpoint in recent years, leading to backlash and intense protests from local communities. Data Center Watch, an organization that tracks anti-data center activity, did just that I noticed that There are as many as 142 different activist groups in 24 states currently organizing against such developments.

This backlash has already affected Microsoft directly. In October the company Abandoned plans for a new data center in Caledonia, Wisconsin, after “community feedback” was very negative. In Michigan, the company is planning a similar project in a small central town Recently inspired locals To take to the streets in protest. On Tuesday, around the same time Microsoft announced its “Good Neighbor” pledge, And an editorial In an Ohio newspaper (where Microsoft is currently based). development Many data center campuses) have criticized the company, blaming it and its peers for climate change.

Concerns have even extended to the White House, where enhancing artificial intelligence has become one of the main tenets of the Trump administration. On Monday, President Trump took to social media to pledge that Microsoft would specifically deliver “Big changes“To ensure that Americans’ electricity bills do not rise. Trump said The changes would “ensure that Americans do not pay a price for their energy consumption.”

In short, Microsoft now realizes that it is fighting a wave of negative public opinion. It remains to be seen whether the company’s new guarantees regarding jobs, environmental care, and lower electricity bills will be enough to turn the tide.