While Microsoft recently reversed course on requiring non-disclosure agreements for data centers, a Great Lakes water policy advocate says there’s more transparency issues to address for these controversial projects.
The company in March announced its new approach after realizing the NDAs were “working counter to” its community relations efforts around data centers, such as its multi-billion dollar hyperscale project in southeastern Wisconsin.
That’s according to Jonathan Noble, the company’s senior director of infrastructure and government affairs, who recently commented on some of the factors driving bipartisan distrust around data centers among the public. He spoke this week during a webinar hosted by the Great Lakes St. Lawrence Governors & Premiers.
Noble noted data center activity is happening in communities that haven’t seen this level of widespread infrastructure development since the early days of the national highway system being built out.
But Helena Volzer, senior source water policy manager for the Alliance for the Great Lakes, said Noble failed to mention the “lack of transparency” by tech companies is playing a role. While she acknowledged NDAs are very common in economic development, the water- and energy-related considerations for the massive projects have made the public “very responsive” to related concerns, Volzer argued.
She said the NDAs are obscuring how much resources will be used for data centers at the outset, which “can make predicting demand for the states a little bit challenging” while also driving those worries.
“This is really resource-intensive development in exchange for low direct employment generation, and many of these jobs are in the construction sector as well,” she said.
Noble said sharing data on water and energy use with locals is “critical” to Microsoft’s outreach efforts, noting the company works with utilities on project requirements to inform their planning processes.
And though he said NDAs have played a role in protecting business interests in competitive markets, he noted both Microsoft and other tech firms are now realizing “that proprietary info is not as … necessary anymore” as data center development becomes more widespread.
“There’s a recognition by Microsoft, for sure, that this is about a partnership and collaboration with the community and NDAs were working counter to that partnership, and therefore no longer had a place … as it related to our interactions with local governments,” he said.
In response to his comments, Volzer said “I think it’s great that Microsoft is setting an example” by backing off from NDAs. But she noted nothing is requiring the company to maintain that policy, adding it could change at any time.
“Microsoft is one company, there are many, many other players in this space,” she said, adding “there are no water use reporting requirements for data centers.”
About 97% of data centers are connecting to public water supplies for their operations, she noted. While many data centers are touting the use of closed-loop systems that require much less water than earlier designs, Volzer argued “the state doesn’t have a great insight” about how much water usage this sector is truly driving.
“So not only is there a need for transparency kind of up front, but also in an ongoing fashion,” she said.
