Local authorities have reportedly approved Microsoft’s (MSFT) proposal to construct 15 additional data centers in Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin, close to an existing facility the company is already expanding.
The new work in Mount Pleasant is divided into two lots just northwest of Microsoft’s current site. For the larger of the two lots, Microsoft bought the land from the village and from private owners in 2023 and 2024. The two sets of plans call for almost 9 million square feet of building area, with three proposed substations, CNBC reported, citing documents on file with the village.
Mount Pleasant’s village board on Monday unanimously approved the two sets of plans, and the taxable value of the developments as Microsoft proposed exceeds $13 billion, the report said.
The expanded data center capacity will enable Microsoft (MSFT) to realize revenue it has already booked from OpenAI (OPENAI) and other customers. Meanwhile, Amazon (AMZN), Google (GOOG), and Oracle (ORCL) are competing with Microsoft to rapidly build data centers packed with Nvidia chips to train and operate generative AI models.