By Justine Calma
Publication Date: 2026-01-13 15:33:00
It looks like the wave of campaigns against data centers are getting under big tech companies’ skin — and Microsoft is the latest giant to promise to address frustrations on the ground in communities around their data centers.
The company announced a five-point plan today that it calls “Community-First AI Infrastructure.” That includes paying more to try to prevent data center energy demands from raising other customers’ electricity bills, minimizing the company’s water use, training workers and creating jobs, and contributing to the local tax base in locations it operates.
The issue has influenced local elections, with some communities even pushing developers to cancel or delay projects
“We are at a moment in time when we need to listen and we need to address these concerns head on,” Microsoft vice chair and president Brad Smith said in a livestream today.
Rising electricity rates across the US have become one of the biggest flashpoints, a trend that’s driven in part…
