Microsoft Has a Plan to Address One of the Biggest Complaints About AI

Microsoft Has a Plan to Address One of the Biggest Complaints About AI

The tech company announced the steps it will take to limit the impact of its facilities.

No Subsidies Needed: Microsoft Says It Can Pay Its Own Electric/Water/Tax Bills for Data Centers

Strange that a company announcing that it will pay its own costs of doing business should make the news. But the oligarchs of surveillance capitalism are so keen on shifting their costs to the rest of us that Microsoft’s promise to cover its own costs for its data centers is worth noticing: Brad Smith, Vice Chair and President, “Building Community-First AI Infrastructure,” Microsoft, 2026.01.13. Pay the full cost of their electricity, add more w…

There's no such thing as 'free lunch' for Big Tech's electric bill

An aerial view of a 33 megawatt data center with a closed-loop cooling system on October 20, 2025, in Vernon, California.Mario Tama/Getty ImagesMicrosoft pledged to "pay its own way" for electricity as its data center footprint grows.President Trump endorsed the plan in a post on Truth Social.Other Big Tech companies are likely to follow suit.Microsoft is promising to cover the costs of electricity needed to power its rapidly growing fleet of da…

Ars Technica: Microsoft vows to cover full power costs for energy-hungry AI data centers

Ars Technica: Microsoft vows to cover full power costs for energy-hungry AI data centers. “On Tuesday, Microsoft announced a new initiative called ‘Community-First AI Infrastructure’ that commits the company to paying full electricity costs for its data centers and refusing to seek local property tax reductions.”

Microsoft Steps Up to Handle Data Center Power and Water Usage Costs

Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) has committed to covering the full expenses incurred by communities hosting its AI data centers, Reuters reported. The tech giant stated that it will take measures to prevent increases in electricity costs and depletion of water resources resulting from these large-scale server facilities. This announcement follows heightened public concern regarding the impact of data centers, which has contributed to the postponement o…

Microsoft pledges to cover the utility rates for its U.S. data centres

As part of new initiative designed to help communities located near AI infrastructure, Microsoft has pledged to pay higher utility rates to cover the electricity costs required to operate its data centres in the US. In a five-point Community-First AI Infrastructure initiative, Microsoft stated it would pay its way to ensure “data centres don’t increase your electricity prices”. It explained it would pay rates high enough to cover electricity cos…