Microsoft data center in Washington state brings "a kind of boom" despite growing AI pushback

Opposition to data centers helped propel Democratic candidates who pledged to stall new construction to victory in last week's midterm elections. More than half of voters said artificial intelligence and data centers were a significant factor in their votes, according to a CBS News exit poll.

But one town says it has benefited from data centers, despite the pushback growing across the nation.

For 20 years, Microsoft has operated its Columbia Data Center in Quincy, Washington, where Mayor Paul Worley told CBS News its presence has created "a kind of boom" for the area.

Additional tax revenue from the project has funded a new high school and hospital, and helped improve other critical services, he said. 

Microsoft president Brad Smith told CBS News about the pledge it makes to the communities where it builds and operates data centers. 

"Basically, we will put the community first," he said. "We will not do anything that will increase the electricity rates of our neighbors. We'll ensure that we replenish more water, we put more water back into the community than we use."

He also highlighted the role data centers play in powering every action we take on our phones and other connected devices. 

"Every time we tap on our phone, it's connecting through an app, it's pulling data from something like this," he said. 

The industry, he said, needs to better inform opponents of data centers about the essential services the facilities enable.

"They're part of daily life, just like electricity is," Smith said.

Why Quincy?

The nearby Columbia River provides hydropower that has led seven additional companies to choose Quincy for their data centers. 

It hasn't been entirely smooth. To accommodate the roughly two dozen data centers that have entered the area over the past two decades, some residents have been asked to vacate their homes.

Electricity rates per kilowatt-hour have risen by roughly 55% over the past 20 years, according to the Grant County public utility. 

While that marks a steep increase, it's still lower than the average increases in national and state electricity rates over the same period. In Washington, electricity rates rose 107% over the same time period. Nationwide, they rose 66%.

Smith said he believes it is the company's "fundamental responsibility" to manage the industry's growth and the impact on residents' rising utility costs. 

"You can't make the challenges go away, but you can be broad-minded, you can [be] committed, and you can take steps to manage growth well," he said. 

For example, Microsoft pledges to replenish or give communities back more water than it uses. It also commits to paying for its own electricity and ensuring that its usage doesn't increase neighbors' utility rates, Smith said. He added that the facilities create local jobs, too, though many are temporary construction positions.

According to Microsoft, the company employs roughly 700 people, or almost 9% of Quincy's roughly 8,000 residents. 

Questions to ask

Yale professor of environmental and energy economics Kenneth Gillingham outlined the questions communities should ask data center developers before they come to town. 

They include:

• What type of technology is it using for cooling?
• How large will it be?
• How is it going to generate its electricity?

Meanwhile, Microsoft's Smith has a clear message for Americans who say they don't want data centers in their backyards. 

"Give us a chance to talk through what we want to do, and give us a chance to prove that we can do this in a way that will put the community first," he said. "We have to persuade you. But the people that you've elected, they're the ones who are gonna make a decision, not us."