By kuow.org
Publication Date: 2026-03-19 19:26:00
Microsoft’s plan to lease an off-grid, gas-powered data center is raising questions about the company’s carbon footprint.
This week, the Redmond-based software giant signed a letter of intent to use up to 1.35GW of artificial intelligence computing capacity at the Monarch Compute Campus in West Virginia. Microsoft is leasing part of the massive data center from the cloud company Nscale, which bills the project as “the United States’ first state-certified AI microgrid.”
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Monarch will be powered exclusively by natural gas generators without tapping into the local electrical grid. An analysis by Michael Thomas, CEO of the renewable energy research firm Cleanview, estimates the project could increase Microsoft’s data center emissions by 40%.
Microsoft didn’t confirm or deny that finding. Instead, a spokesperson issued the following statement: “Microsoft and Nscale’s…
