内容来源：https://techcrunch.com/2026/01/13/microsoft-announces-glut-of-new-data-centers-but-says-it-wont-let-your-electricity-bill-go-up/

内容总结：

尽管过去一年数据中心建设引发的公众反弹激烈，但包括微软在内的科技巨头仍计划在明年扩大人工智能基础设施布局。继Meta宣布启动AI基础设施计划后，微软于本周二提出“社区优先”的建设方针，承诺在扩建过程中履行“好邻居”责任。

微软在声明中强调将确保数据中心用电成本不会转嫁给当地居民，通过与电力公司及监管机构合作，全额承担其对电网的负荷。公司同时承诺为社区创造就业岗位，并减少数据中心耗水量——这两点正是当前争议焦点：数据中心常被批评消耗大量水资源且实际创造的长期岗位有限。

此类承诺背后是日益高涨的民间抵制浪潮。据监测机构统计，全美24个州已有142个活跃团体反对数据中心建设。微软此前在威斯康星州的数据中心项目因社区强烈反对而搁浅，在密歇根州的项目也引发街头抗议。同日俄亥俄州媒体评论更直指微软等科技公司应对气候变化负责。

值得注意的是，数据中心建设已成为政治议题。特朗普政府将AI基础设施作为施政重点，总统本人近日通过社交媒体要求微软确保“不让美国民众为用电买单”。面对舆论压力，微软能否通过就业承诺、环境责任与用电保障三大措施扭转公众印象，仍有待观察。

中文翻译：

尽管过去一年公众对数据中心的反感情绪高涨，但所有科技巨头都已承诺将在未来一年扩建人工智能基础设施。其中就包括OpenAI的合作伙伴微软——该公司于本周二宣布了所谓"社区优先"的AI基础设施建设方针。

微软此次声明虽在扎克伯格宣布Meta将启动自有AI基建计划的次日发布，却并不令人意外。去年该公司已宣布计划投入数十亿美元扩大AI算力规模。真正值得关注的是微软对建设方式作出的新承诺。

周二微软承诺将"在建设、拥有和运营数据中心的社区中采取必要措施，成为好邻居"。公司表示这包括"承担应尽费用"以确保当地电费不会因数据中心建设而飞涨。具体而言，微软将与地方电力公司合作，确保其支付的电费完全覆盖数据中心对当地电网造成的负荷。

"我们将与制定电价的电力公司及审批电价的州级委员会紧密合作，"微软声明称，"目标很明确：确保数据中心用电成本不会转嫁给居民用户。"

该公司还承诺在数据中心所在地创造就业岗位，并最大限度降低数据中心运行耗水量。数据中心耗水问题已成为争议焦点，这类设施常被指责对当地供水造成巨大压力并引发其他环境问题。就业承诺同样具有现实意义，因为这类项目实际能创造的短期与长期岗位数量一直存在争议。

微软此刻作出这些承诺的动机显而易见。近年来数据中心建设已成为政治敏感议题，频频引发当地社区的强烈抵制。追踪反数据中心运动的组织"数据中心观察"指出，目前全美24个州至少有142个活跃团体正在组织反对行动。

这种抵制已直接影响到微软。去年十月，在收到压倒性负面"社区反馈"后，该公司放弃了在威斯康星州喀里多尼亚建设新数据中心的计划。而在密歇根州，微软在中部小镇的类似计划近期已引发当地居民上街抗议。就在周二微软宣布"好邻居"承诺的同时，俄亥俄州某报纸（微软正在该州建设多个数据中心园区）发表评论文章严厉抨击该公司，指责微软及其同行应对气候变化负责。

担忧情绪甚至蔓延至白宫——AI基础设施建设已成为特朗普政府的核心施政纲领之一。本周一，特朗普总统在社交媒体承诺微软将进行"重大改革"以确保美国民众电费不上涨，称这些改变将"确保美国人不为科技公司的电力消耗'买单'"。

总而言之，微软已意识到自己正面临汹涌的负面舆论浪潮。该公司关于就业、环境保护和稳定电费的新承诺能否力挽狂澜，仍有待时间验证。

英文来源：

Although public backlash against data centers has been intense over the past 12 months, all of the tech industry’s biggest companies have promised additional buildouts of AI infrastructure in the coming year. That includes OpenAI partner Microsoft, which, on Tuesday, announced what it calls a “community-first” approach to AI Infrastructure.
Microsoft’s announcement, which comes only a day after Mark Zuckerberg said that Meta would launch its own AI infrastructure program, isn’t unexpected. Last year, the company announced that it planned to spend billions to expand its AI capacity. What is a little unusual are the promises the company has now made about how it will handle that buildout.
On Tuesday, Microsoft promised to take the “steps needed to be a good neighbor in the communities where we build, own, and operate our data centers.” That includes, according to the company, its plans to “pay its own way” to ensure that local electricity bills don’t go through the roof in the places where it builds. Specifically, the company says it will work with local utility companies to ensure that the rates it pays cover its full share of its burden on the local grid.
“We will work closely with utility companies that set electricity prices and state commissions that approve these prices,” Microsoft said. “Our goal is straightforward: to ensure that the electricity cost of serving our data centers is not passed on to residential customers.”
The company has also promised to create jobs in the communities where it touches down, as well as to minimize the amount of water that its centers need to function. Water usage by data centers has obviously been a contentious topic, with data centers accused of creating substantial issues for local water supplies and spurring other environmental concerns. The jobs promise is also relevant, given lingering questions around the number of both short-term and permanent jobs that such projects typically create.
It’s pretty clear why Microsoft feels it is necessary to make these promises right now. Data center construction has become a political flashpoint in recent years, generating intense backlash and protest from local communities. Data Center Watch, an organization that tracks anti-data center activism, has observed that there are as many as 142 different activist groups across 24 states currently organizing against such developments.
This backlash has already impacted Microsoft directly. In October, the company abandoned plans for a new data center in Caledonia, Wisconsin, after “community feedback” was overwhelmingly negative. In Michigan, meanwhile, the company’s plans for a similar project in a small central township have recently inspired locals to take to the streets in protest. On Tuesday, around the same time Microsoft announced its “good neighbor” pledge, an op-ed in an Ohio newspaper (where Microsoft is currently developing several data center campuses) excoriated the company, blaming it and its peers for climate change.
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Concerns have extended even to the White House, where an AI buildout has become one of the major tenets of the Trump administration. On Monday, President Trump took to social media to promise that Microsoft specifically would make “major changes” to ensure that Americans’ electricity bills wouldn’t rise. Trump said the changes would “ensure that Americans don’t ‘pick up the tab’ for their power consumption.”
In short, by now, Microsoft understands that it’s fighting a tide of negative public opinion. It remains to be seen whether the company’s new assurances of jobs, environmental stewardship, and low electricity bills will be enough to turn the tide.