""We'll pay our way to ensure our datacenters don't increase your electricity prices," Brad Smith, Microsoft's president, wrote in a blog post one day after President Trump said in a Truth Social post that he does not want Americans to "pick up the tab" for data center electricity costs. Microsoft, he said, was "first up." The announcement comes amid an unprecedented data center construction boom across the US."
"Twenty-four of Microsoft's data centers are located in Virginia as of 2024, followed by Texas with eight, and Illinois and Iowa each with four, according to Business Insider's count. Microsoft's data centers are extremely electricity-intensive, Business Insider's analysis suggests. Its most power-intensive facility as of 2024 is in Maricopa County, Arizona, according to the analysis."
Microsoft pledged to cover its data-center electricity costs so those costs will not raise residential electricity prices. The pledge followed President Trump's statement opposing Americans "picking up the tab" for data center electricity. Data center construction has surged nationwide, with developers filing permits for 1,240 facilities as of 2024, roughly quadruple the 2010 level. Microsoft filed permits for 44 data centers by the end of 2024, the fifth-highest total in the analysis, and about half of those are among the largest centers estimated to consume 40 megawatts or more. Major Microsoft clusters include Virginia, Texas, Illinois, Iowa, and a high-use site in Maricopa County, Arizona.
Read at Business Insider
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