Microsoft has come out openly against Washington State’s proposed bill on data centers. After being on the sidelines for weeks, the software giant has made its stand clear that it opposes the bill called House Bill 2515. The bill reportedly aims to require utilities and data center companies to create agreements that protect rate payers from increased power costs and brings transparency to the environmental impacts of the facilities. Washington is currently home to approximately 126 data centers and related facilities. Microsoft has the most data centers in the state out of any company, as it operates roughly 30 data centers in the state.
According to a report in Geekwire, Microsoft labels the proposed regulations as “uniquely anti-competitive”. Microsoft’s senior director of Washington state government affairs, Lauren McDonald, has urged Senate leaders to reconsider key features of House Bill 2515. “We respectfully urge the committee not to advance the bill without significant changes,” McDonald said in testimony before the Senate Committee on Ways & Means.
McDonald argued that utilities already have the authority to set rates and avoid rising costs for ratepayers. Specifically requiring new tariffs for data centers would remove flexibility and yield “unintended consequences” in the future. McDonald said this bill would effectively ban new data centers in the state.
In an emailed statement to Seattle Times, Microsoft said, “Microsoft agrees with the intention of this bill. We are committed to paying our way for new energy infrastructure, expanding clean electricity generation, replenishing more water than we use, and keeping datacenter communities informed.” The statement added, “But when it comes to the specific language within the bill, the details very much matter.”
What is House Bill 2515
The House Bill 2515 is said to require public and private utilities to propose a new set of tariffs for data centers, which would effectively translate to higher electricity rates for the facilities. The idea would be to ensure data centers pay for any new grid infrastructure they require to meet their massive energy demand and to offset any bill increases the industry’s rapid growth might otherwise thrust onto regular ratepayers. In addition, the measure also includes a flat fee, half a penny for every kilowatt-hour of energy used, which data centers would pay toward low-income bill assistance, weatherization projects and artificial intelligence education programmes.
Incidentally, the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and the Washington State Building & Construction Trades Council oppose the legislation. “HB 2515 is well-intentioned, but it does not address the real challenge Washington faces,” leaders of the organizations said in a recent op-ed last month. “The solution is not to slow or penalize critical infrastructure. The solution is to build clean energy faster, modernize the grid, and hold all participants to high standards,” it added.
