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thewayneIt also will not seek any tax abatements or incentives.
Well, that's one heck of a move!
MS has a new "Community First" initiative where it is paying the full costs of its data centers, which will cause no increase in costs for area residents. They have taken tax abatements in the past, that apparently will end. There's a lot of hate for the big tech companies right now, and justly so: "In data‑center hubs such as Virginia, Illinois and Ohio, residential power prices jumped 12–16% over the past year — noticeably faster than the U.S. average, according to U.S. government data — as grid operators scrambled to add capacity for large new facilities."
A certain moron last night spilled the news on his private social media platform and said that his administration is talking to the other major tech platforms about them taking responsibility to eat their own costs, as they should, we shall see what happens. They certainly have the money, but as we've seen so often in the past, it's always been 'privatize the profits, socialize the costs'.
https://www.geekwire.com/2026/microsoft-responds-to-ai-data-center-revolt-vowing-to-cover-full-power-costs-and-reject-local-tax-breaks/
https://it.slashdot.org/story/26/01/13/146211/microsoft-pledges-full-power-costs-no-tax-breaks-in-response-to-ai-data-center-backlash
Well, that's one heck of a move!
MS has a new "Community First" initiative where it is paying the full costs of its data centers, which will cause no increase in costs for area residents. They have taken tax abatements in the past, that apparently will end. There's a lot of hate for the big tech companies right now, and justly so: "In data‑center hubs such as Virginia, Illinois and Ohio, residential power prices jumped 12–16% over the past year — noticeably faster than the U.S. average, according to U.S. government data — as grid operators scrambled to add capacity for large new facilities."
A certain moron last night spilled the news on his private social media platform and said that his administration is talking to the other major tech platforms about them taking responsibility to eat their own costs, as they should, we shall see what happens. They certainly have the money, but as we've seen so often in the past, it's always been 'privatize the profits, socialize the costs'.
https://www.geekwire.com/2026/microsoft-responds-to-ai-data-center-revolt-vowing-to-cover-full-power-costs-and-reject-local-tax-breaks/
https://it.slashdot.org/story/26/01/13/146211/microsoft-pledges-full-power-costs-no-tax-breaks-in-response-to-ai-data-center-backlash
no subject
Date: 2026-01-13 10:27 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2026-01-13 10:57 pm (UTC)Absolutely! And the number of jobs created by data centers isn't all that high. I was reading about a data center operator in Connecticut: he has eight centers across the country, employs 200 people. 25 people per center. Not a lot of long-term job creation going on there. Now, they do pay well, but you're getting a lot of environmental pollution going on, also.
no subject
Date: 2026-01-14 01:27 am (UTC)Hugs, Jon
no subject
Date: 2026-01-14 02:52 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2026-01-14 04:45 am (UTC)I dunno. There may be something going on, we shall see.