In central Washington, a farming town of roughly 8,100 people has become an unlikely showcase for America’s data-center boom.Quincy, long known for potato fields, apple orchards and food-processing plants, has spent two decades attracting some of the world’s largest technology companies.Microsoft began building data centers there around 20 years ago, drawn by affordable land, the region’s cool climate and abundant hydropower from the Columbia River.Now the town is becoming central to Microsoft’s response to a backlash against the facilities powering cloud computing and artificial intelligence.
The company this year cited Quincy as proof that data centers can bring tangible benefits to the communities that host them, as residents elsewhere raise alarms over electricity prices, water use and limited local job creation.ONE OF THE WORLD'S HOTTEST INDUSTRIES IS SPARKING A BLUE-COLLAR JOBS BOOMData centers depend on transmission lines and substations capable of delivering enormous amounts of power reliably, often requiring costly grid upgrades.(Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images)The economic gains are visible in Quincy.KUOW reported that years of data-center tax revenue have helped support a state-of-the-art high school and hospital.The city recently opened a new aquatic center, complete with a six-lane lap pool, lazy river and waterslides, while a planned indoor sports complexData centers are not an employment engine on their own.
A single facility can operate with 50 employees or fewer, KUOW reported.But Quincy has enough facilities that the sector has become a meaningful employer in aggregate, while also supporting construction, service businesses and the city’s broader tax base.TRUMP HEADS TOWARD UNLIKELY CLASH WITH CLOSE ALLY OVER FUTURE OF MULTIBILLION-DOLLAR INDUSTRYMicrosoft has operated data centers in Quincy for about two decades, making the small farming town a centerpiece of its response to the nationwide backlash over AI infrastructure.
(Adam Gr...