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:
Pay the full cost of their electricity, add more water to local supply than they use, and (pay attention, legislators!) not asking for tax breaks and instead paying full property taxes to support the communities in which they do Big Data.
We should watch closely: Microsoft mentions property taxes but not sales taxes, so they might still avail themselves of the unnecessary sales tax break that bubbled up last year in the Legislature and is back in the hopper this Session.
But on face, Microsoft’s community-first framework for its data centers sounds like exactly what concerned citizens should demand of a big corporate neighbor:
“When I looked at the Microsoft plan, it almost aligns perfectly with the arguments that are often made against data centers in communities in Pennsylvania,” said Chris Borick, director of the Muhlenberg College Institute of Public Opinion.
He has seen the angry town hall meetings in his state. “And if there’s one particular aspect right now of where the issue is connecting to individuals, it’s through their electricity prices,” he said [Nova Safo, “Microsoft Promises to Fully Pay for Electricity, Replenish Water That Data Centers Use,” Marketplace, 2026.01.14].
With great power comes great responsibility… like paying for your own power. Microsoft and other tech giants have all the market motivation they need to build giant data centers, and they’ll get plenty of money out of us with the clever algorithms their data centers devise to predict and control our consumer impulses. As Microsoft’s AI infrastructure plan indicates, they don’t need subsidies up front to build their data centers.
I saw Patti Smith last night. She finished with “People have the Power”. And voiced vote. A perfect ending to an evening at Spanish Point. DeSantis hasn’t tried to change that name yet but I’m sure some idiot will try.
@Mark – Sounds awesome, dude. Wish I’da been ‘der. Read her book, “JUST KIDS” last fall about her one love Robert Mapplethorpe and their life together among the Bohemians of NYC in the 60’s.
SD shouldn’t demand it, but a big corporate neighbor might decide to clean up your river. Y’all don’t seem to give a darn about the past and preserving the L’il River.