Microsoft says it will foot the bill for extra data center electricity costs.

From Marketplace, I'm Sabri Benes-Shore in for David Bruncaccio.

The data centers needed to power AI are controversial in many communities.

People are worried that the extra demand will drive up their electricity bills, which already are up

7% in a year on average, according to yesterday's inflation report. In response to this backlash,

Microsoft is pledging to pay extra for electricity to power its data centers so regular people's

electric bills don't get driven up. The tech giant also says

it'll work to prevent water resources from being drained by giant server farms. Marketplaces,

Nova Saffo has more. Microsoft's announcement comes amid growing public backlash against data centers.

That backlash has led to tens of billions of dollars in projects being delayed or canceled in recent months.

Communities are asking us hard and pointed questions about the impact of data centers.

Rima Alighi heads Microsoft's Infrastructure Legal Affairs team.

Data centers are growing at a rapid scale, and it's something that is really new for communities to have to grapple with.

The biggest concerns have been rising electricity costs and the large amounts of water many data

centers consume for cooling. Microsoft is promising, among other things, to pay the full cost of the

electricity it consumes and to replenish more water than it uses.

When I look at the Microsoft plan, it almost aligns perfectly with the arguments that are often

made against data centers in communities in Pennsylvania.

Chris Borek has seen the angry town hall meetings in his state from hisge as director of the Mulemberg College Institute of Public Opinion.

If there's one particular aspect right now of where the issue is connecting to individuals, it's through their electricity prices.

President Trump highlighted Microsoft's electricity commitment and said his administration is talking to other data center builders to do the same.

I'm Nevisoff, for Marketplace.

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