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   "We will set a high bar" - Microsoft reveals multiple new data centers, and   
   promises your energy bills won't go up to pay for them   
      
   Date:   
   Wed, 14 Jan 2026 12:25:00 +0000   
      
   Description:   
   Microsoft promises to break the age-old tradition of passing costs on to the   
   consumer.   
      
   FULL STORY   
      
   Microsoft has announced its new initiative to build Community-First AI   
   Infrastructure, which the company claims is a commitment to do this work   
   differently than some others and to do it responsibly.    
      
   Within this, the tech giant promises to cover the financial cost of energy   
   consumed by the data centers, a burden that has so far fallen onto the   
   consumer - with current estimates calculating that AI infrastructure will see   
   energy demand surge to almost 300% by 2035.    
      
   This commitment from Microsoft comes after President Trump asked tech   
   companies to pay their own way for their data centers, where he singled out   
   Microsoft for leading the charge amongst tech firms and taking responsibility   
   for their own infrastructure.   
      
   "This commits us to the concrete steps needed to be a good neighbor in the   
   communities where we build, own, and operate our datacenters," Microsoft   
   added. "It reflects our sense of civic responsibility as well as a broad and   
   long-term view of what it will take to run a successful AI infrastructure   
   business. In short, we will set a high bar."    
      
   This commitment comes in five forms; paying utility rates to ensure energy   
   prices dont rise, replenishing more water than the data center uses, creating   
   jobs for residents, paying taxes to invest in local infrastructure, and   
   investing in local AI training and non-profits.    
      
   Data centers have been notoriously accused of creating serious and    
   substantial concerns for water supplies (especially in areas that commonly   
   battle with drought issues and water scarcity) - with some local homeowners   
   reporting having lost access to clean drinking water.    
      
   Although these data centers may seem reminiscent of large factories or   
   manufacturing plants that carry similar environmental concerns, its important   
   to note that these data centers create very few jobs once built, only needing   
   a small amount of technicians to service the center.    
      
   Its unsurprising to see these goodwill commitments from tech companies - not   
   because they care about the communities they serve, but because communities   
   are pushing back against the damaging effects of such huge, energy and water   
   consuming infrastructure built to support a technology that most consumers   
   dont care about .    
      
   In fact, reports have claimed around $64 billion in US data center projects   
   have been delayed or blocked by local bipartisan opposition. Microsoft is   
   already rumored to have cancelled several data center projects worth billions   
   of dollars, so this shift towards a responsible data center model is not   
   altogether unsurprising.    
      
   ======================================================================   
   Link to news story:   
   https://www.techradar.com/pro/we-will-set-a-high-bar-microsoft-reveals-multipl   
   e-new-data-centers-but-says-your-energy-bills-wont-go-up-to-pay-for-them   
      
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