{"id":369108,"date":"2026-01-14T10:02:12","date_gmt":"2026-01-14T10:02:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/369108\/"},"modified":"2026-01-14T10:02:12","modified_gmt":"2026-01-14T10:02:12","slug":"microsoft-vows-to-pay-its-way-as-it-seeks-to-defuse-data-centre-backlash","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/369108\/","title":{"rendered":"Microsoft vows to \u2018pay its way\u2019 as it seeks to defuse data centre backlash"},"content":{"rendered":"

Unlock the White House Watch newsletter for free<\/p>\n

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Microsoft is pledging to \u201cpay its way\u201d for its AI data centres, as soaring US electricity prices and water use bring a backlash against tech companies and the Trump administration\u2019s AI push.\u00a0<\/p>\n

At a meeting in Washington on Tuesday, Microsoft<\/a> president Brad Smith said the company would pay higher electricity rates in areas it builds data centres to cover the costs of new power generation and grid upgrades \u2014 as well as replenish water drawn from reservoirs to cool their technologies.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to be more transparent,\u201d Smith said. <\/p>\n

\u201cIn the past data centres were built without a lot of communication\u2009.\u2009.\u2009.\u2009that created a culture in our industry that we need to evolve and change.\u201d<\/p>\n

The announcement comes amid rising concerns over the proliferation of energy-intensive data centres to power AI<\/a>. In October, Microsoft was forced to cancel a 244-acre data centre project in Wisconsin after locals rallied against the plan. <\/p>\n

The Trump administration has named \u201cwin[ning] the AI race\u201d as a strategic priority, but it is also on the defensive over rising energy costs associated with the rollout of the tech. <\/p>\n

President Donald Trump pledged during his presidential run in 2024 to halve consumer electricity bills, but prices have continued to rise in recent months.<\/p>\n

Polling shows American voters remained concerned about high living costs and an affordability crunch<\/a>, which has left Trump\u2019s approval ratings near historic lows.<\/p>\n

\u201cI never want Americans to pay higher Electricity bills because of Data Centers\u2009.\u2009.\u2009.\u2009big Technology Companies who build them must pay their own way,\u201d he wrote on his Truth Social platform on Monday.<\/p>\n

Average residential electricity prices have risen by 5 per cent across the US in the 12-month period from October 2024, but states such as New Jersey and Virginia \u2014 where the so-called data centre alley is located \u2014 have experienced double-digit increases.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Energy affordability was a flashpoint in political races in recent months and helped Democrats sweep local election races in November, putting more pressure on Trump. <\/p>\n

Microsoft said it supported a proposal from utility We Energies in Wisconsin for data centres to pay more for their electricity, and had asked the state\u2019s authorities to increase the amount it charges.<\/p>\n

Among other pledges, Microsoft said it would hire locals to work in its data centres \u2014 although the facilities do not employ many people.<\/p>\n

In a separate effort to see off a deepening backlash, utility Georgia Power has said customers \u201cwill not feel the blow\u201d of data centres drawing electricity from the grid.<\/p>\n

Analysts said the moves reflected Big Tech\u2019s efforts to answer consumers\u2019 concerns about AI and rising electricity bills.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is going to be increasingly incumbent on utilities and these large customers to communicate why and how this is not increasing rates,\u201d said Josh Price, an energy director at Capstone, an advisory. <\/p>\n

Sceptics have criticised the lack of transparency in deals between data centre developers and utilities.<\/p>\n

Recommended<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a><\/p>\n

A 2025 study by Harvard\u2019s Electricity Law Initiative said that agreements were frequently \u201copaque\u201d and the atomised US meant ratepayers often ended up footing the bill for new infrastructure. <\/p>\n

Implementing Microsoft\u2019s plan and \u201cverifying that there are no spillover costs that infect residential bills\u201d would be \u201cdevilishly complicated\u201d, said Ari Peskoe, the study\u2019s author. <\/p>\n

\u201cFull transparency about the deals, which has not been a feature of special side deals between utilities and Big Tech, is necessary,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Unlock the White House Watch newsletter for free Your guide to what Trump\u2019s second term means for Washington,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":369109,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[554,733,4308,86,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-369108","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-artificial-intelligence","8":"tag-ai","9":"tag-artificial-intelligence","10":"tag-artificialintelligence","11":"tag-technology","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom","14":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/369108","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=369108"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/369108\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/369109"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=369108"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=369108"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=369108"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}