Microsoft on Tuesday unveiled an initiative to curb water usage at its US data centers and limit the impact on the general population from any potential surge in power prices.
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Microsoft will pay utility rates high enough to cover its power costs and prevent Americans from facing higher utility bills.
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The company committed to replenishing more water than its data centers consume and will publish usage data for each U.S. region
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President Trump praised the initiative and stated his administration is working to ensure Americans don't pay higher bills for tech company power consumption.
Political leaders across the US are urging a rapid expansion of data-center capacity and new power production to keep the country competitive in AI. However, local communities are voicing concerns over how the power-hungry facilities will impact their utility bills and use land, water and other natural resources in the region.
"Data centers are key to (the US AI boom) ... but the big technology companies who build them must 'pay their own way.' ... Congratulations to Microsoft. More to come soon," US President Donald Trump said in a social media post.
The President said his administration was “working with major American Technology Companies… to ensure that Americans don’t “pick up the tab” for their POWER consumption, in the form of paying higher Utility bills.
Microsoft said it will pay utility rates high enough to cover its power costs and work with local utilities to expand supply when needed for its data centers.
It also pledged to replenish more water than its data centers consume, saying it would start publishing water-use information for each data center region in the US, along with its progress on replenishment.
"Especially when tech companies are so profitable, it's both unfair and politically unrealistic for our industry to ask the public to shoulder added electricity costs for AI," Microsoft Vice Chair and President Brad Smith said in a statement.
The company did not respond to a request seeking financial details of its initiative.
Microsoft had pulled its plans for a new data center in Wisconsin after opposition from the local community, CNBC reported in November.
The company said on Tuesday that as part of its investment in Wisconsin, it is supporting a new rate structure that would prevent data center power costs from being passed on to consumers.
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