KEY TAKEAWAYS: Microsoft pledged greater transparency around data center development and operations Wisconsin environmental groups welcomed the comments but questioned their substance Regulators are considering special electricity rates for large data center users Local opposition recently hal ted proposed Microsoft data centers in Caledonia and near Green Bay   Microsoft’s pledge to be more transparent with communities on how it develops and operates data centers was welcomed and also drew skepticism from Wisconsin environmental groups. The January 13 comments from Microsoft president Brad Smith Microsoft were “because of widespread community pushback and concern over the harm that AI data centers are bringing to our state,” said Amy Barrilleaux, communications director for Clean Wisconsin. “Microsoft’s transparency claim rings hollow. Microsoft and the other tech companies absolutely need to be more transparent about their plans for energy and water use.,” Barrilleaux said in a statement. In an appearance in Milwaukee, Smith discussed the need for the tech sector to be more open about its plans. “I think we’re at a cultural pivot point because to bring people along, to get comfortable being more transparent, to be comfortable having conversations about questions to which we don’t yet know the answer – requires a different approach,” Smith said. “Transparency is not optional or discretionary,” Peg Sheaffer, communications director for Midwest Environmental Advocates, said in a statement. “While we welcome Microsoft’s acknowledgment that more transparency is needed, voluntary disclosures and broad promises are not enough. Real accountability will require meaningful opportunities for public engagement, effective regulatory oversight and clear enforcement mechanisms.” The Public Service Commission is considering a special rate for companies to pay more for the cost of electricity to operate facilities like data centers. Microsoft is in favor of the special rate but environmental groups question if it can be implemented properly. “Clean Wisconsin is an intervenor in the tariff case at the Public Service Commission that deals with these very large load new customers pushing into Wisconsin,” Barrilleaux said. “Because we are in the case, we have access to confidential information that we think should also be available to the public. Microsoft could make it so at any time, but it has not.” Clean Economy Coalition of Wisconsin issued a statement saying “the proposal We Energies has put forward raises important questions about how to do this in a regulated setting.” “One option that is being considered would only require data centers to pay 75% of related capital costs, leaving everyday customers to pay the other 25%, and also pass on risks associated with fluctuating fuel costs. “Frankly, that option does not actually meet the standard Mr. Smith is articulating, where Microsoft should be responsible for all costs so families and small businesses are protected. The rate proposal also doesn’t address costs for the life of the project, leaving regular Wisconsinites on the hook.” Microsoft learns lesson from Caledonia Microsoft’s Smith comments came after the company’s plan for a data center in Caledonia was discarded following strong local opposition, and one day after plans for a possible data center near Green Bay were dropped, again after local opposition. “It doesn’t make sense to go where people don’t want us,” Smith said. “The price of that was a cloak that kept us from being transparent with the community and we need to be transparent. We need to be more transparent, not just when we’re buying land.”   This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Environmental groups skeptical of Microsoft’s vows on data centers   Reporting by Ricardo Torres, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel   USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect ...read more read less