Microsoft Challenges ATC Plan on Data Center Transmission Costs

Microsoft and Wisconsin ratepayer advocates have challenged a proposal by We Energies and the American Transmission Company (ATC) to allocate costs for transmission infrastructure built to serve data centers. The plan would set a minimum transmission charge for Microsoft's Mount Pleasant data center based on its anticipated electricity needs, which mirrors an earlier strategy approved by Wisconsin's Public Service Commission.

The utilities argue that this approach will prevent their other customers from paying for overbuilt infrastructure if the facility uses less electricity than expected. However, Microsoft and ratepayer advocates counter that the proposal falls short in protecting Wisconsinites from cost shifts and fails to provide adequate input from those most affected.

ATC anticipates spending more than $500 million to upgrade the Mount Pleasant facility's connection to the electrical grid, with costs passed on to customers through their electrical bills. The utilities' plan would require We Energies to pay ATC for the data center's projected transmission capacity and pass that cost to Microsoft.