Microsoft Pauses Construction of Portions of $3.3B Wisconsin Data Center
Tech firm cites scope changes due to new developments in related technologies
One portion of a $3.3 billion Microsoft Data Center in Mount Pleasant, Wis., is slated for completion this year while two other parts are on pause.
Rendering courtesy of the Village of Mount Pleasant
Microsoft has put on hold parts of the construction of a $3.3-billion data center in Mount Pleasant, Wis., to potentially incorporate new designs.
“We are currently reviewing our plans for the second expansion of a Mount Pleasant data center,” a company spokesperson said in a statement. “We have paused early construction work for this second phase while we evaluate scope and recent changes in technology and consider how this might impact the design of our facilities.”
Ground was broken in January 2024 on one part of the megaproject that is is being built to expand the company’s cloud and artificial intelligence infrastructure capacity.
After it considers new designs, Microsoft will “discuss with the local and state authorities any impact these changes might have on our current or prospective permits,” the spokesperson added. “We anticipate that this process will last months. In the meantime, our commitment to and construction of our planned data center campus continues with high priority for our business."
The first phase of the project, identified as Area 3B, is on track to be operate in 2025, the spokesperson said. Construction in two other areas, known as Area 3A and Area 2, have been paused.
Sean Ryan, a spokesperson for the Village of Mount Pleasant, said local officials "have no reason to believe this will affect the overall scope or nature of Microsoft’s project. We appreciate Microsoft being transparent with village leaders about the construction timeline for its Mount Pleasant data centers.”
The company said it is still on pace to spend $3.3 billion on the project before the end of 2026 and indicated that it plans a significant future in AI. In a Jan. 3 company blog post, Microsoft announced plans to invest $80 billion to build out AI-enabled data centers around the world in fiscal 2025.
Microsoft purchased part of the Wisconsin site from Taiwan-based electronics manufacturer Foxconn, which delivered in 2020 a 1-million-sq-ft fabrication facility built by joint venture contractor Gilbane/Xcyte. The fab produces electric car batteries, with Foxconn also an investor in electric vehicle startup Lordstown Motors, and never produced flat screens for televisions under its original plan.
Foxconn cited consumer demand during the pandemic as the reason for the shift. While its initial plans for what it called in 2017 the Wisconn Valley Science and Technology Park as a $10 billion investment meant to draw other high-tech firms never came to full fruition, a Foxconn subsidiary also recently acquired an additional 20 acres of land in Mount Pleasant around the same time as Microsoft's data center announcement.
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