Microsoft commits to covering energy costs for AI data centers. ## Microsoft's Initiative Microsoft has announced a new initiative called "Community-First AI Infrastructure". The company commits to paying the full electricity costs for its data centers and refusing to seek local property tax reductions. ## Concerns about energy consumption The increasing demand for generative AI services has prompted Big Tech companies to build massive new data centers for chatbots and image generators. This growth has raised concerns about the economic impact on local communities, particularly regarding rising residential electricity rates and the strain on water resources due to server cooling needs. ## Future outlook The International Energy Agency (IEA) projects that global data center electricity demand will more than double by 2030, reaching around 945 TWh. The United States will be responsible for nearly half of the total electricity demand growth over this period. This growth is happening while much of the country's electricity transmission infrastructure is more than 40 years old and under strain.