Microsoft plans more server farms, despite water worries
(2026/01/28)
- Reference: 1769625052
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2026/01/28/microsoft_more_server_farms/
- Source link:
It's no secret that datacenters use a ton of water for cooling, a demand that can strain local supplies. Despite reported internal forecasts showing sharply higher water use by 2030, Microsoft continues to splash cash on new AI bit barns.
The technology giant has been given approval to build 15 more server farms at Mount Pleasant in Wisconsin, reports say, near its [1]existing AI datacenter campus , which Microsoft has said is on track to come online in 2026 and has billed as "the world's most powerful AI datacenter."
The new project is expected to be worth more than $13 billion, with the facilities split across two sites just to the northwest of Microsoft's current campus, which occupies land once earmarked for a factory by Taiwanese electronics contract manufacturer Foxconn.
[2]
Local officials on Mount Pleasant's village board signed off on Microsoft's plans this week, [3]according to CNBC , despite some pushback.
[4]
[5]
Elsewhere, the company has also disclosed plans to [6]spend $30 billion expanding AI datacenters in the UK between 2025 and 2028, alongside a separate $10 billion investment in Portugal, saying it expects to [7]more than double its datacenter capacity across 16 European countries by 2027, all to boost its ability to support AI workloads.
But all this comes at an environmental cost, as reported before, in terms of pollution, greenhouse gas emissions, and water consumption. Microsoft [8]previously conceded that its emissions were up by about 30 percent from a 2020 baseline, despite the company pledging to be carbon-negative by 2030, with the build-out of new datacenters cited as the cause.
[9]
At the end of last year, more than 230 organizations across America signed a letter calling for a [10]moratorium on the construction of datacenters , claiming the current build boom represents a huge environmental and social threat.
Meanwhile, the New York Times claims to have obtained Microsoft documents showing forecasts for the annual water needs of roughly 100 of its campuses worldwide to [11]more than triple to 28 billion liters by 2030, compared to 2020 levels.
These internal forecasts were reportedly made last year, and Microsoft told the newspaper it had updated its projections to reflect new water-saving techniques so that it now expects to use about 18 billion liters of water in 2030, up 150 percent from 2020.
[12]
Despite this, the cloud computing behemoth launched its [13]Community-First AI Infrastructure initiative earlier this month, in which it pledged to minimize its use of the wet stuff, and even replenish more water than it draws.
[14]Why colos are city slickers and hyperscalers are country bumpkins
[15]We come in peace, OpenAI tells locals near gargantuan Stargate facilities
[16]Arm muscles into server market – but can't wrestle control from x86 just yet
[17]Server prices set to jump 15% as memory costs spike
Microsoft vice chair and president Brad Smith promised greater local transparency, saying that people deserve to know how much water Microsoft datacenters use, and that it is committed to making that information accessible and easy to understand.
That initiative was launched after President Trump took to social media to insist that [18]big technology companies must pay their way , rather than ordinary Americans picking up the tab for the extra energy infrastructure needed for AI datacenters through higher bills.
It isn't just Microsoft that is building new facilities at a frenzied pace, of course, and the same criticisms can be directed at other cloud and datacenter businesses. But perhaps we aren't getting the full picture because of measures such as [19]non-disclosure agreements that local officials are made to sign by some tech companies, as The Register recently reported.
Microsoft was asked to comment for this article, but had not responded by publication time.
The current boom in datacenter construction is only likely to slow if AI investment trails off or the current bubble bursts – which the Bank of England's Financial Policy Committee [20]warned about last year. ®
Get our [21]Tech Resources
[1] https://www.theregister.com/2025/09/18/microsoft_datacenter_wisconsin/
[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offprem/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2aXqVGz6bEVXH9gHcNHkWewAAApE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[3] https://www.cnbc.com/2026/01/26/microsoft-wins-approval-for-15-data-centers-at-wisconsin-foxconn-site.html
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offprem/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aXqVGz6bEVXH9gHcNHkWewAAApE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offprem/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33aXqVGz6bEVXH9gHcNHkWewAAApE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2025/09/17/microsoft_uk_ai_cash/
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2025/04/30/microsoft_getting_nervous_about_europes/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2024/05/16/microsoft_co2_emissions/
[9] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offprem/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aXqVGz6bEVXH9gHcNHkWewAAApE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2025/12/09/datacenter_pause_congress_help/
[11] https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/27/technology/microsoft-water-ai-data-centers.html
[12] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offprem/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33aXqVGz6bEVXH9gHcNHkWewAAApE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[13] https://www.theregister.com/2026/01/13/trump_datacenter_power_costs/
[14] https://www.theregister.com/2026/01/08/study_hyperscaler_colo_locations/
[15] https://www.theregister.com/2026/01/21/stargate_openai_community_plans/
[16] https://www.theregister.com/2025/06/30/arm_server_shipments/
[17] https://www.theregister.com/2025/12/04/server_prices_15_percent_jump_memory_costs/
[18] https://www.theregister.com/2026/01/13/trump_datacenter_power_costs/
[19] https://www.theregister.com/2026/01/25/datacenters_nda/
[20] https://www.theregister.com/2025/10/08/boe_dotcom_bubble_ai/
[21] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
The technology giant has been given approval to build 15 more server farms at Mount Pleasant in Wisconsin, reports say, near its [1]existing AI datacenter campus , which Microsoft has said is on track to come online in 2026 and has billed as "the world's most powerful AI datacenter."
The new project is expected to be worth more than $13 billion, with the facilities split across two sites just to the northwest of Microsoft's current campus, which occupies land once earmarked for a factory by Taiwanese electronics contract manufacturer Foxconn.
[2]
Local officials on Mount Pleasant's village board signed off on Microsoft's plans this week, [3]according to CNBC , despite some pushback.
[4]
[5]
Elsewhere, the company has also disclosed plans to [6]spend $30 billion expanding AI datacenters in the UK between 2025 and 2028, alongside a separate $10 billion investment in Portugal, saying it expects to [7]more than double its datacenter capacity across 16 European countries by 2027, all to boost its ability to support AI workloads.
But all this comes at an environmental cost, as reported before, in terms of pollution, greenhouse gas emissions, and water consumption. Microsoft [8]previously conceded that its emissions were up by about 30 percent from a 2020 baseline, despite the company pledging to be carbon-negative by 2030, with the build-out of new datacenters cited as the cause.
[9]
At the end of last year, more than 230 organizations across America signed a letter calling for a [10]moratorium on the construction of datacenters , claiming the current build boom represents a huge environmental and social threat.
Meanwhile, the New York Times claims to have obtained Microsoft documents showing forecasts for the annual water needs of roughly 100 of its campuses worldwide to [11]more than triple to 28 billion liters by 2030, compared to 2020 levels.
These internal forecasts were reportedly made last year, and Microsoft told the newspaper it had updated its projections to reflect new water-saving techniques so that it now expects to use about 18 billion liters of water in 2030, up 150 percent from 2020.
[12]
Despite this, the cloud computing behemoth launched its [13]Community-First AI Infrastructure initiative earlier this month, in which it pledged to minimize its use of the wet stuff, and even replenish more water than it draws.
[14]Why colos are city slickers and hyperscalers are country bumpkins
[15]We come in peace, OpenAI tells locals near gargantuan Stargate facilities
[16]Arm muscles into server market – but can't wrestle control from x86 just yet
[17]Server prices set to jump 15% as memory costs spike
Microsoft vice chair and president Brad Smith promised greater local transparency, saying that people deserve to know how much water Microsoft datacenters use, and that it is committed to making that information accessible and easy to understand.
That initiative was launched after President Trump took to social media to insist that [18]big technology companies must pay their way , rather than ordinary Americans picking up the tab for the extra energy infrastructure needed for AI datacenters through higher bills.
It isn't just Microsoft that is building new facilities at a frenzied pace, of course, and the same criticisms can be directed at other cloud and datacenter businesses. But perhaps we aren't getting the full picture because of measures such as [19]non-disclosure agreements that local officials are made to sign by some tech companies, as The Register recently reported.
Microsoft was asked to comment for this article, but had not responded by publication time.
The current boom in datacenter construction is only likely to slow if AI investment trails off or the current bubble bursts – which the Bank of England's Financial Policy Committee [20]warned about last year. ®
Get our [21]Tech Resources
[1] https://www.theregister.com/2025/09/18/microsoft_datacenter_wisconsin/
[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offprem/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2aXqVGz6bEVXH9gHcNHkWewAAApE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[3] https://www.cnbc.com/2026/01/26/microsoft-wins-approval-for-15-data-centers-at-wisconsin-foxconn-site.html
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offprem/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aXqVGz6bEVXH9gHcNHkWewAAApE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offprem/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33aXqVGz6bEVXH9gHcNHkWewAAApE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2025/09/17/microsoft_uk_ai_cash/
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2025/04/30/microsoft_getting_nervous_about_europes/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2024/05/16/microsoft_co2_emissions/
[9] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offprem/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aXqVGz6bEVXH9gHcNHkWewAAApE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2025/12/09/datacenter_pause_congress_help/
[11] https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/27/technology/microsoft-water-ai-data-centers.html
[12] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offprem/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33aXqVGz6bEVXH9gHcNHkWewAAApE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[13] https://www.theregister.com/2026/01/13/trump_datacenter_power_costs/
[14] https://www.theregister.com/2026/01/08/study_hyperscaler_colo_locations/
[15] https://www.theregister.com/2026/01/21/stargate_openai_community_plans/
[16] https://www.theregister.com/2025/06/30/arm_server_shipments/
[17] https://www.theregister.com/2025/12/04/server_prices_15_percent_jump_memory_costs/
[18] https://www.theregister.com/2026/01/13/trump_datacenter_power_costs/
[19] https://www.theregister.com/2026/01/25/datacenters_nda/
[20] https://www.theregister.com/2025/10/08/boe_dotcom_bubble_ai/
[21] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Farm
elsergiovolador
I assume they'll be rearing servers there?
Look at the billions of "Investment"
IGotOut
Yes all that money will be spent locally, for the good of the local community!
What's that Skippy? The vast majority of that money will actually go into the pockets of billion Dollar Tech Companies? Tell me that's not true!
Re: Look at the billions of "Investment"
Yet Another Anonymous coward
The money will be announced in the local community.
First Foxconn announced a $$$$Bn investment and now Microsoft have also announced a $$$$Bn investment, again in this local community
We hope that if the AI bubble bursts then in the future even more $$$$$Bn announcements can be made at the same site
NEGATIVE!!!
Goodwin Sands
Article says they're pledging to be carbon-negative by 2030. Well how on earth are they going to do that?
Are they perhaps going to build datacentres out of wood then bury them, or sink them in the benthic depths of the Arctic Ocean.
Grok suggests they might cheat and simply pay someone to plant trees. Bah!
Re: NEGATIVE!!!
Yet Another Anonymous coward
>Grok suggests they might cheat and simply pay someone to plant trees. Bah!
That's just silly.
They will pay somebody who has some worthless trees not to cut them down.
Like how I'm murder negative by paying people not to slaughter their own partners and so offsetting any activities of my own
Magic water
" ...the cloud computing behemoth [M$] launched its Community-First AI Infrastructure initiative earlier this month, in which it pledged to minimize its use of the wet stuff, and even replenish more water than it draws."
I'm looking forward to the hearing the way in which M$ will magically make more fresh water appear. To the best of my knowledge there is a limited number of sources:
Groundwater: Suckingf lots of ground water out will be unpopular with those people who rely on wells for their drinking water.
Rivers: As we know, largely at the mercy of rainfall and climate change (not necessarily global warming, just the changes in weather patterns although GW may play a part.)
Rain: Notoriously unpredictable (see rivers above).
Perhaps M$ are planning to tow icebergs from the [ant]arctic?