Microsoft’s Data Center Fuels Local Growth Despite AI Backlash

WHO:

[12:06 EST] - CBS News - Microsoft has operated its Columbia Data Center in Quincy, Washington, for 20 years.

[12:06 EST] - CBS News - Quincy Mayor Paul Worley said Microsoft’s presence had created “a kind of boom” for the area.

[12:06 EST] - CBS News - Microsoft president Brad Smith described the company’s commitments to communities where it builds and operates data centers.

[12:06 EST] - CBS News - Yale professor of environmental and energy economics Kenneth Gillingham outlined questions communities should ask data-center developers before they arrive.

[12:06 EST] - CBS News - Microsoft employs roughly 700 people, almost 9% of Quincy’s approximately 8,000 residents.

WHAT:

[12:06 EST] - CBS News - Additional tax revenue associated with the project funded a new high school and hospital and helped improve other critical services, Worley said.

[12:06 EST] - CBS News - Seven additional companies chose Quincy for data centers, aided by hydropower from the nearby Columbia River.

[12:06 EST] - CBS News - Roughly two dozen data centers entered the area over two decades; some residents were asked to vacate their homes to accommodate them.

[12:06 EST] - CBS News - Grant County public utility data show electricity rates rose roughly 55% over 20 years, compared with 107% in Washington and 66% nationwide.

[12:06 EST] - CBS News - Smith said Microsoft pledges to replenish or return more water to communities than it uses, pay for its own electricity, and ensure its usage does not raise neighbors’ utility rates.

[12:06 EST] - CBS News - Smith said data centers create local jobs, though many are temporary construction positions.

[12:06 EST] - CBS News - More than half of voters said AI and data centers significantly influenced their votes, according to a CBS News exit poll. Opposition to data centers helped Democratic candidates who pledged to stall new construction win the midterm elections.

WHERE:

[12:06 EST] - CBS News - The Columbia Data Center and the town discussed are in Quincy, Washington, near the Columbia River.

WHY:

[12:06 EST] - CBS News - Smith said data centers power connected-device activity: “Every time we tap on our phone, it's connecting through an app, it's pulling data from something like this.”

[12:06 EST] - CBS News - Smith said the industry needs to better explain the essential services data centers enable and manage their effects on residents’ utility costs.

HOW:

[12:06 EST] - CBS News - Smith said Microsoft’s approach is to “put the community first” and not increase neighbors’ electricity rates.

[12:06 EST] - CBS News - Smith urged opponents to let the company explain its plans and demonstrate its approach, adding that elected officials—not Microsoft—make the decision.

(UPDATED November 11, 2026 21:18 UTC)

Microsoft’s Quincy data center brought jobs and tax revenue, helping fund a hospital and high school. But roughly two dozen centers arrived, and some residents had to leave their homes. Microsoft promises to pay its electricity costs and protect neighbors from higher utility rates.