Microsoft has achieved a significant milestone by reducing water consumption in its data centers by 90% since the early 2000s. Last year, the company utilized 0.27 liters of water per kilowatt-hour, outperforming the industry average by nearly threefold. This achievement aligns with its goal to be water positive by 2030, meaning it replenishes more water than it uses globally.
In an ongoing effort to address growing concerns about water usage, Microsoft announced its Community-First AI Infrastructure initiative at the beginning of the year, which includes covering electricity costs and forgoing local tax breaks. The company recently endorsed the Ratepayer Protection Act, aimed at mitigating utility bill impacts from data centers, despite previously opposing related state legislation.
Judy Priest, CTO of Cloud Operations & Innovation, and Steve Solomon, vice president of Datacenter Engineering, reaffirmed Microsoft's commitment to water conservation in a blog post. They emphasized the importance of advancing innovations that lower water use intensity while meeting the demands of cloud and AI services.