One of the world’s most profitable technology companies could be abandoning an ambitious clean-energy goal in Virginia as it races to build electricity-hungry data centers. Several of the company’s facilities are already operating in Virginia, the data center capital of the world, and more are planned, creating a tension with the state’s own climate commitments.
Microsoft is considering ending its round-the-clock or 24/7 clean energy goal, which aims to meet 100 percent of its energy consumption 100 percent of the time with zero-carbon electricity by 2030.
“It’s always easier to work in partnership than it is to work against them if our goals are aligned,” said Tim Cywinski, communications director for the Virginia chapter of the Sierra Club. “Our goals should be aligned. This is Microsoft telling us that they aren’t.”
In Virginia, Microsoft has a hub of data centers for its Azure cloud services in Mecklenburg County. There, in rural Southside Virginia, there are more than 20 different data center buildings, according to datacentermap.com.
The company also has several data centers in Northern Virginia across Loudoun County near Dulles International Airport; Prince William County and Fairfax County. More data centers are planned for Mecklenburg and Prince William counties, which would more than triple the company’s statewide employee count to 2,042 by the end of the year.
