Microsoft has announced plans for a massive, multibillion-dollar data center campus in Pecos, West Texas, designed to meet the skyrocketing demands of advanced AI and cloud compute.
To fuel the site, Microsoft secured a 20-year Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with energy giant Chevron (partnered with hedge fund Engine No. 1), which will supply up to 2.67GW of behind-the-meter power via a natural gas-fired facility known as Project Kirby. Scheduled to achieve first power delivery in 2028, the project will rely on advanced GE Vernova and Solar Turbines infrastructure and utilize non-potable, brackish groundwater for its operations.
This massive project is expected to create around 6,000 construction jobs at full buildout over the next five to seven years, while generating over $10 billion in local and state tax revenue.
Campus exterior and data hall photography for this operator.
Campus exterior and data hall photography for this operator.
Campus exterior and data hall photography for this operator.
Microsoft uses Containers (called ITPACs) to build out its data centers. These Containers are Shipping Containers fitted with all the necessary climate control, networking, server racks and other hardware necessary to be a “mini” data center all in one.
An Azure region is a set of data centers deployed within a latency-defined perimeter and connected through a dedicated regional low-latency network.
With more global regions than any other cloud provider, Azure gives customers the flexibility to deploy applications where they need to. Azure is generally available in 46 regions around the world, with plans announced for 8 additional regions.
An Azure geography is a discrete market, typically containing two or more regions, that preserves data residency and compliance boundaries.
Geographies allow customers with specific data-residency and compliance needs to keep their data and applications close. Geographies are fault-tolerant to withstand complete region failure through their connection to our dedicated high-capacity networking infrastructure.
Availability Zones are physically separate locations within an Azure region. Each Availability Zone is made up of one or more data centers equipped with independent power, cooling, and networking.
Availability Zones allow customers to run mission-critical applications with high availability and low-latency replication.
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August 04, 2026 Microsoft Azure
Swiss startup Exclaim Robotics, founded by a former Microsoft engineer, has raised $4.95 million in pre-seed funding to develop autonomous robots for AI data center maintenance. Backed by Founderful and Playfair, the company aims to automate remote hands tasks such as cleaning optics,...
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July 14, 2026 Microsoft Azure
Pure DC has launched the first phase of its Seinäjoki, Finland, data center project, with Microsoft reportedly among the customers leasing capacity at the site. The initial phase will deliver 110MW of capacity with an estimated investment of $1.7 billion. Pure DC has been developing plans for the...
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July 10, 2026 Microsoft Azure
Microsoft reported a 25 percent year-on-year rise in carbon emissions, with total Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions increasing to 20.29 million metric tons of CO₂e as data center expansion accelerated. The company said the jump was largely due to its decision to stop using unbundled renewable energy...
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July 04, 2026 Microsoft Azure
National Grid Ventures (NGV), the commercial arm of National Grid, has acquired a 35% stake in Joulent for $1.75 billion to support development of power infrastructure for large data centers. The investment will help fund Project Kilby, a 2.67GW natural gas facility being developed with Chevron....
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June 23, 2026 Microsoft Azure
The first data center at Microsoft’s Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin campus is now officially operational, the company confirmed on June 23. Construction was completed just over two years after the project was first announced. The site is part of Microsoft’s “Fairwater” data center design and will form...
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