Microsoft is disputing a plan proposed by American Transmission Co. (ATC) and We Energies to recover over $600 million for new power lines and substations needed for its Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin data center. The tech giant claims the agreement, which it was not consulted on despite being the sole customer, contains "significant deficiencies" and does not sufficiently prevent existing utility customers from bearing these costs. This challenge comes despite Microsoft's prior commitment to a White House pledge to ensure its data centers do not cause utility price hikes for households.
The proposed plan dictates that We Energies would initially pay ATC for the data center's projected transmission capacity, then Microsoft would reimburse We Energies in full over a 15-year period. However, Microsoft argues that the agreement "provides no mechanism to prevent [We Energies’] retail customers from paying the costs of the facilities, and large load customers may pay twice." This stance is supported by the Citizens Utility Board (CUB), a consumer advocacy group, which also filed a protest expressing concerns about cost allocation clarity and the potential for ATC's five million customers in eastern Wisconsin and Michigan's Upper Peninsula to absorb these expenses.
ATC, which plans over $2 billion in transmission investments for large data centers across Wisconsin, including a $15 billion campus for Vantage Data Centers in Port Washington and a Meta data center in Beaver Dam, maintains that its agreements ensure existing customers are protected. Microsoft is requesting that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) either facilitate a meeting to resolve these issues or reject ATC's plan, forcing renegotiation. Consumer advocates have also deemed ATC's approach of individual contracts with tech companies as "premature" and inconsistent, suggesting a need for a uniform framework for transmission cost allocation, especially given that FERC is expected to establish more robust guidelines later this year.
